FORWARD OR BACKWARD?

FORWARD OR BACKWARD?

In the fall of 2014, Belinda and I headed via Kenya on a return trip to South Africa where we had served as resident missionaries.  During this trip, we drove through the provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Eastern Cape to conduct ministry conferences. 

During our previous stints in South Africa we had never visited Kruger National Park, the largest game reserve in the nation, so we also motored through the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga for this purpose.  This part of our trip was devoted to pure enjoyment and we loved seeing ‘The Big Five’ (lions, rhinos, elephants, leopards and Cape buffalo) in their natural habitat.  South Africa is a place of unsurpassed beauty!

On the way to Kruger we encountered a major problem.

Three years earlier, we had purchased a GPS navigation system.  However, we had not updated its software during the intervening years.  Uh-oh!  We somehow found ourselves w—a—y off the roadway that we should have been traveling on.  And for approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) we were on an extremely rocky road that had so many ditches and potholes that we were forced to travel at a speed of approximately 15-20 miles per hour!

I put on a brave face for Belinda’s sake, but it was nearing dusk and I was afraid of getting stuck in this situation overnight.  Silently, I was praying desperately: “Lord, do we go forward or do we head backward?”

Just when I was approaching a state of panic, the rocky road ended and we found ourselves on a roadway that was much smoother and infinitely easier to traverse.  THANK YOU, JESUS!

But here’s the thing.  My off-road experience might feel quite familiar.  Our traveling circumstance is likely analogous to a situation (or two) that you have encountered along the road of life.  Things looked bad.  And the situation seemed to grow progressively worse (not better) as you moved ahead.  In fact, your soul seemed to sag under the weight of overwhelming doubts and questions: “Do I go left or right?  Should I stop, continue, or head back to my starting point?  Is this relationship what God has planned, or was that all me?  Am I in the right city?  The right job?  The right church?”  During such storms, the mind tends to race, and the mental list of things that could or should be goes on and on.

To make matters worse, the GPS navigation system that you typically depend upon [your intellect, your instinct, your wisdom, your wit, your determination] might appear to be dysfunctional or even inaccessible.

What should we do during such crisis moments?  Surely we can find wisdom and direction in the Word:

From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. (Psalm 61:2)

This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. (Psalm 34:6)

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. (Psalm 9:10)

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped.  Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. (Psalm 28:7)

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. (Psalm 37:3)

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:5)

GO FORWARD, my friend; never backward.  And when you cannot trace His hand…trust HIS PLAN.

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!