A Lesson From The Canyon

I started down Bonquet Canyon Road recently, only to find the clouds low and sitting on the road, so you couldn't see more then about 30 yards or so in front of you....I love overcast days on the canyon, so I was enjoying it...my music played soothing relaxing sounds of keyboards of joyful noise....my thoughts turned to God, as they usually do on my commutes...in doing so I found a wonderful object lesson there....

I was reminded that I could probably sit with my eyes closed, and draw the canyon road on paper, accurately getting curves and details of the winding trip down, because I have driven it repeatedly for the last few decades, and I am intimately acquainted with it...yet, this day, I couldn't see far enough ahead of me to feel comfortable driving at a normal speed....I chose to slow down, careful for what might lie around the next curve, since I have come upon accidents from time to time there....
That is when I realized.....our lives are much the same...we are familiar with the everyday routines, we plan what we will do tomorrow, and feel comfortable about what the next day, week, month or year might have for us...it's routine...but then God allows us to come upon a life curve where we can't see what is around the other side....why this Lord? I can't see what good there is in it....it slows us down, and at times we'd just as soon pull off the road entirely...until the way is clearer....

Then we zoom on through life, forgetting that we were detained....beautiful things happening around us, but we don't notice...they become a blur of activity that carries us through our days, until God slows us down again...another curve, another cloud, another pain, another hurt.....






The reminder was to slow down, learn all He has for me in those curves, and the cloudy obscure moments of my life....the beauty is still there, I just have to look for it...not fly by it, ignoring the fact that He has allowed it in my life for a purpose, and it is up to me to look for it, and if the way is too dimmed to see it, I can still be assured it is out there, and I don't have to always understand it...I can trust Him for what is around the curves of my life, because He knows the road I will take and has laid it out before me....and there, when the clouds lift, and the curves straighten out, I can see it too....if I deviate from the paved road, I will be on dirt roads, with rocks, and cliffs, and mud that would cause me to be stuck, spiritually stalled out...in need of rescuing....

that would be a mess...

or I could be looking in my rearview mirror, at what I have past by, diverting my attention from what lies ahead....and wishing I could go back and do things differently....and then not be ready for what He has ahead for me....






Press forward He says....forgetting what lies behind, and pressing on towards the high calling....and there I will meet with beautiful moments, spent with Him, with people I love, in worship for all the wonder and amazement that He loves even little old me....that in all this big world, He keeps His watchful eye on me...caring for me and loving me so much, blessing me....I thank you Lord for the simple lessons in life you so poignantly provide me with....even if it is just on a drive down the canyon.....