The Road Ahead

I watched some video footage taken from a really bad vehicle pile-up that happened on I-94 last Friday...according to an article I read, there were 193 vehicles involved.  It took my breath away to watch cars and semi trucks come upon the accident totally unsuspecting of the danger ahead of them and run into the massive wreckage of vehicles.  I could hear the panic in the voices of those who were capturing the scene on video and trying to determine if it was safe enough to exit their vehicles to get to a few cars closest to them to try and help people.  I am still so amazed at the protection over the people that came upon that dangerous situation.  In that huge mess, there was only one fatality.

I was thinking today that our journey of faith requires us to not only acknowledge that we can't see the whole road ahead and learn to trust, but also to grapple with the truth that, in this life, we are not promised safety....or comfort, for that matter.... and to surrender our extreme desire for safety to God's plan to give our lives purpose and make us holy....set us apart for Himself.  So much of what I have seen that sets someone apart comes from their crisis moments or how they learn to handle their hardships when I think they would testify that they FEEL anything other than safe.

I have a friend who was in a traffic accident while she was pregnant.  She and her baby survived, but her little girl was born with a myriad of health issues and the last 10 years have not been easy or safe for her family as there have been so many times they thought they were losing their daughter/sister.  They are in one of those moments right now where it looks like she will not make it... her body is rejecting sustenance and her breathing is strained.

Their resolve to LOVE and SERVE through it all and to completely VALUE all the time they have had with their daughter has been so inspiring for me.  You know those people that you think of in your own moments of weakness or when you come to a dangerous or difficult obstacle in your path who, by their strong Christ-like example, are able to lift you above your circumstances when you think of what they have endured?  I thank God for people like that and am so honored to know some of them, personally.