I love long drives. The open road, scenic picturesque views, the journey to reach an expected destination. My mind eventually clears and I can think on things that really matter as I leave my everyday life behind. Today I’m riding, so it lets me also pause to put fingers to the keyboard.
As I look at the road before me, I see many different vehicle types, colors, sizes. We are all headed in the same direction. Sometimes a car will get off on a exit. Then it seemingly catchs up with us as we travel miles down the road. Or we will get off on an exit for food, gas or to stretch only to catch back up with a car we were traveling by.
As Christians, we are all on the road stretched before us to advance the Kingdom of God headed towards a final destination of being united with Christ in Heaven.
Some days we feel like isolated beings on our journey, absorbed by the pressures of life. If we stop and look around we will see others traveling around us, dealing with much of the same obstacles.
Too often we compare our journey to others, they are ahead of us or behind us. Someone else’s route looks different than ours. Someone else has more or less than we do. That is not our business, unless we can help them in the journey. If someone spills their load, I might be in a position to help them clean it up, carry it on for them, or at least take them to connect with help. Or if someone has a breakdown, I can stop and help them get back on the road.
I can look at what they have, but it is dangerous for me to start comparing. Looking to long at where others are or what others have distracts me from where I am traveling, what I am doing, and what I have been blessed with. My focus need to be on the road before me. My focus is for what I can do with, and in, the space around me. I have to stay in the moment, prepared for what may come my way.
Some people, or even myself, may take some detours. God may need to do a little work in an area so as to prepare one for the next leg of the journey. He may need to bring nourishment because all available resources have been expended. He may need to take one to a place of rest or a place of stretching so they will not grow weary in the journey.
It is important to remember we are not in a race against someone else. We are called to be a help to those we encounter. We are heading the same direction, but our journeys and the vehicle in which we travel may appear different. We can not loose sight that we are all in this together.
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