THE ROAD

Sometimes we come to a pivotal turning point in our lives and we look back and exam the road (your life) we have just traveled. We begin to remember all the accomplishments, all the failures, all the incomplete tasks and all the things we never thought we would finish yet did. And as we stand there at this “turning point”, this “changing station” if we can call it that, sometimes we are accompanied by individuals that would want to keep us in the very place we stand. Often we are met with words of ill accomplishments. You know those words that stare back down the road with you and ask you, “What did you really accomplish there? I mean, did you even learn anything? Do you have anything to show for your past on that road?” These questions may be accompanied by the feeling of sadness or grief. As we ponder the questions purposed to us, he creeps in, and we suddenly feel like we wasted our lives. We may feel like we have nothing to show for the “Hard Work” we put into the road. At one point the road was bright, exuberant and a joy to be on. Now as we peer back we see nothing but darkness, pain, hurt and confusion. We stand and gaze back on the road, and little by little our station of change gets ever more crowded with those that want you to fail, to give up and to remain motionless. All they want is for you to remain still, remain trapped, and remain as a statue staring back at the road. You see, and object in motion will remain in motion, until acted upon by an outside force. If these individuals, doubt, loneliness, deception, can cause us to come to a stop, they understand the difficulty in restarting from a dead position. They want us to look back on the road and pin point all the negative situation causing us to loose hope, to loose faith to loose the will to continue. But there is always one constant on the road, an immovable variable that we often overlook in the moment and as we re live the road. That constant is the ever present, all sufficient Christ, our Lord our Savior. Take a look back at the road, if you exam carefully (20/20 right?) we can see that in all those times our current companions remind us of, Christ is there. You don’t believe me; I challenge you to exam your road looking for evidence of His presence. The time we needed monetary aid, and it came from what seemed to be nothing. The time we felt all alone yet felt a warm presence we couldn’t explain. The time we received live altering medical news and in the mist of the turmoil had an overwhelming sense that things would be all right. This, the most important moment of all….when we were stuck in sin and damned to eternal grief and torment unless we pay a price that would result in our death and He stepped in, looked us in the eyes with unimaginable Love and stepped up to pay the price for us, thus saving us and freeing us. The roads we travel will be hard, they will be filled with moments of pain, moments of hurt moments of shame. But when we come to our pivotal road changing stations and we look back and examine the road we were just on. We must not allow those negative individuals to keep us motionless. Christ paid to much for us to allow ourselves to come to a complete stop on this journey we call life. Remember: and object in motion will remain in motion until acted upon by an outside force. If we continue moving towards Christ, focusing on Him and what pleases him. Then the pull He has on us will out weigh the forces trying to stop us from doing what he has called us to do. I don’t know what point you’re at in this journey. Perhaps you are like me and you are coming up to a point where you are about to get off the road you have been on and merge onto a new road, one you haven’t been on before. Or perhaps you are still traveling on the road you are on and there’s no sight of a change any where in the near future. Regardless of which one you fall into remember, that there is one constant on the roads we travel. Jesus is always present and always pulling you towards Himself. Focus on the road ahead, and when you get to your changing station, look back and praise the Lord for all He did for you on your journey.

Isaac A Valentin