Often Journeys are hard. Even
trips that start out filled with excitement and promise can have some bumps
along the way. A recent song by Steven Curtis Chapman illustrates this. You can watch Long
Way Home here:
Chapman
refers slyly to his song “The Great Adventure” in the first lines of “Long Way
Home”I set out on a
great adventure The day my Father started leading me home He said there's gonna
be some mountains to climb And some valleys we're gonna go through But I had no
way of knowing Just how hard this journey could be Cause the valleys are deeper
and the mountains and steeper Than I ever would've dreamed.
Dorothy set out on the Yellow
Brick Road thinking she just had to get to Oz in
the Emerald City
and everything would be fine. She had no way of knowing the adventures that
waited for her. She met some new friends, and with them she encountered flying
monkeys, defeated a witch, and learned that she could live her own life.
Naomi also had to take
responsibility for her own life. When she returned to Bethlehem
she blamed God for her problems. “The Lord has dealt harshly with me…” In my
novel, she beings to understand that God was really in all happened.
“I was wrong. The Living Lord did not desert me.” I spoke low as
comprehension burst into my heart. Tears I could not stop rolled down my face.
“You once said that the Holy One of Israel provides healing even for death and pain.
Ever since my father died from the bite of the serpent I have been angry with
God. Everything that went wrong was another reason to blame the Lord of Life.
All I saw were the many laws that had to be followed. When I AM brought the people from slavery it was not to blindly follow
laws.”
“Really?” Ruth was trying to understand me. “All the gods have rules to
follow.”
“That is not the way of the One God. Sarai once tried to explain to me
that the Law is a guide built on love not a whip for punishment.” I raised my
head and took my friend’s hands in my own. “It is in relationship with one
another and with God we can all live in freedom no matter what our
circumstances. Your loyalty and steadfast faith in God are all that kept me
alive even when I have refused to be free. All my life I preferred rage. The
Almighty never stopped providing help and comfort. Even in the depths of my
despair, a way was opened to return to Bethlehem. We have come here to the land of promise.”
Only when she understands God’s
love is she free to discover new joy. She can cease to be Mara and return to
being Naomi.
The disciples were filled with
joy and hope when they first started following Jesus. They were ready for a
‘great adventure’. Confrontations with the authorities of the day and Jesus’
own warning, “the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be
crucified and on the third day be raised again,” must have made them wonder
exactly what they had gotten into. Then came the entry into Jerusalem-a
high point in their experience, but it was followed too quickly by betrayal,
arrest and their denials. The mountains and valleys suddenly became pretty
precipitous and the result pretty shrouded in fog.
I recently read a quote by
Spurgeon that puts our journeys in perspective if we remember we are on the
road for and with God: "He who would glorify his God must set his account
upon meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless
his conflicts be many. If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it,
because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for
His failing you, never dream of it--hate the thought. The God who has been
sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end."
We
all slip and stumble along the way. Dorothy had her share of problems in poppy
fields and with flying monkeys. Naomi’s life was indeed difficult and the
disciples struggled with understanding their Master. However, as Chapman says:
“Well I know we're gonna make it And I know we're gonna get there soon. So I'll
keep on singing and believing what all of my songs say, Cause our God has made
a promise And I know that everything He says is true. And I know wherever we go
He will never leave us Cause He's going to lead us home Every single step of
the long way home.”
Where are you on your road-are you starting out or going through those deep
valleys? Rejoice if you are on top of the hills where you can see the vistas.
We are walking with God on our journey, no matter where along the path we are.
Chapman reminds us “And even on the best days He says to remember we're not
home yet So don't get too comfortable Cause really all we are is just pilgrims
passing through.” That is a wonderful promise and reminder. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday and we’ll consider how dead endings may just be new beginnings.
