February 2016
I have been writing articles for our newsletter for a year now and for the most part have enjoyed the process. The stories have helped me process this somewhat turbulent stage in my life. Part of the process has been to think about “things”, observe people, events as well as my own actions. That requires time and mental peace. While 2014 and the early part of 2015 were in many ways very stressful, I was at peace. By comparison, the last part of 2015 should have been a cake walk. Yet, I have been anxious and definitely not at peace. My wife keeps asking me whether I have been asking God for help and telling me to let Him do the worrying while I do the praying. The big difference is that before I had unstructured free time where I could let personal time with God simply happen. Whenever I noticed something or the Holy Spirit lead me somewhere, I had the freedom to stop, take it in and pray. Whatever was going on before, could and did wait. Now I might not even recognize the situation and blow right by it. Even if I noticed, I would probably be late for a meeting or behind on an important “must do” task and not take the time to acknowledge God and talk to Him about it.
The whole situation reminds me of a lessons from my driver’s education class. The teacher told us not to look just at the road right in front of the car but to lift our eyes and look a ways down the road. If you only look right in front of the car, you are forced to watch the white line along the side of the road to keep you on the road. You might be able to adjust for slight drifting side to side but if the road comes to a real curve you are likely to run right off the road. You simply cannot react fast enough to the line suddenly moving out from under you.
Instead you need to look ahead, prepare for the turns and trust that the road will not change in the few seconds it takes to get from here to the spot ahead you were watching. If you choose your viewing distance wisely and the road builders did their job well, it will seem like you are always driving on a straight road. (If this sounds vaguely familiar, read on.) About the only thing that can get in your way is the occasional squirrel and in my opinion that’s just too bad for the squirrel.
I need to get back to living my life by looking further ahead and following the right instructor. I vaguely remembered a bible passage about God making our road straight but was stunned to find
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways submit to Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
When I read these verses, it felt as if they had been written for me, to be read at this time, when I needed a reminder to get back on track with God.
Peace,
Martin
Frankly Speaking 