by Tom Wacaster
This week finds me in
India, travelling the back roads to cities and villages in an effort to take
the gospel to surrounding areas. We in America often take the condition
of our roads for granted, and assume that most roads in the world are as good
as, or perhaps even better than the worst of our bad roads. I can assure
you that even our country roads are far superior to some of the major highways
in India. This is not to say that there are no good roads in India
whatsoever, for their government has been actively involved in improving road
conditions nationally by building what we here at home might call “Interstate
Highways.” In India they are known as “National Highways.”
Between Kakinada in the state of Andre Pradesh and the nearest National Highway
is a distance of about 50 kilometers (give or take a dozen kilometers).
Portions of the highways leading out of Kakinada have been resurfaced in the
last couple of years; but there remain some sections where the potholes are
large enough to swallow a “laurie” (i.e. 8 wheeler semi). I usually
ride in the back of Nehemiah’s Toyota and when we hit some of the worst of the
potholes I get quite a “bounce.” I often find myself thinking, “If
it had not been for that Tata (Indian made economy car) falling into the
pothole ahead of us, the jolt would have been much worse. Our
driver does his best to avoid the potholes, weaving here and there, and
slamming on the brakes when a hole is so large that it is simply unavoidable.
Oh yes, traversing the potholes in India is quite a challenge; I’m just glad
that I’m not the one doing the driving.
Every life has
“potholes” that come along from time to time. One minute you might
find yourself cruising down life’s highway, without a care in the world.
All of a sudden here comes a “pothole” that you simply cannot avoid. You
weave here and there, trying your best to avoid it; but to no avail.
Sometimes those “potholes” of life slap us in the face without so much as a
simple warning. Financial loss, betrayal by a close friend or brother in
Christ, or even the unexpected and sudden death of a loved one are among these
unexpected challenges of life. All of these can devastate our lives and
more often than not, they come upon us unawares. Try as we may, we
simply cannot avoid those things that are bigger than life itself, and that
stare us in the face without any way to escape. This past week someone
sent me the following quote from a well known denominational preacher. I
think you will appreciate his sentiments. Here a few select remarks:
“Life is a series of
problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're
getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that
God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more
interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The
goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness…Rather than life being hills
and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track,
and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life…No
matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that
needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your
life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on
your purposes, or you can focus on your problems: If you focus on
your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my
issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your
focus off yourself and onto God and others” (Rick Warren).
If you want to be happy
why not try Paul’s inspired advice: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things
are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are
of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on
these things. The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw
in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you” (Phil. 4:8-9).
You cannot control the circumstances that come along in life any more than you
can fill or dodge the potholes in the roads upon which you travel. How
you react to those circumstances is what is important. And with God’s
help, faith in His promises, and a determination to do His will, you can
successfully traverse the potholes of life.