The Ultimate Road Trip

A good road trip back in the day was a true adventure.  For those of us who lived in a van "down by the river" (aka toured with a Youth Encounter band) in the good old days...  There weren't cell phones.  Mapquest was just invented and often required finding a home that had the good old AOL dial-up connection to download and print the directions.  Navigating was done with real maps.  When the van broke down (and it always did), we would walk a few miles to the nearest exit, or scary farm house, use a payphone and try and find the nearest mechanic.  A million stories, a lot of laughter, and adventures that bound us together in ways that we could never explain - except to those who we traveled with.

Reading Psalm 121 - I can't help but chuckle, and think about the time our van broke down 5 times in one week.  Everything that could go wrong that week, did.  It was stressful at the time, but a host of visiting angels along the way showed God's provision and protection, and provided more times that we could imagine to share the Gospel.  (Who knew blowing a 2 inch crack in your radiator could become a moment for evangelism?!)  As your imagination drifts to all the things that could (and did) go wrong - it almost leads you to ask if the journey is worth the trouble.

Psalm 121 was one of the songs that was sung "on the road" - a Psalm of Ascent.  A part of the group of fifteen Psalms that were traditionally sung while people travelled together three times a year to Jerusalem.  An adventure that was anything but safe, but incredibly important.  Stumbling on the road, sunstroke and moonstroke were all very real dangers.

Where did help come from in the midst of this peril?  Not from the hills - from any of the false gods who were said to dwell there.  Or the sun god "Ra" found in Egypt.  Or Nanna - the god of the moon in Mesopotamia.  And not from Baal - whose priests had to frequently rouse him from his naps as a part of their jobs.  The hills may hide danger.  Our help doesn't come from there, but from the maker of both heaven and earth, the One who does not slumber or sleep.  He is our Guardian and Keeper.  He is the One who provides shade in the worst of circumstances.

If that's true, then what's the trouble?  The dangers that we face on our journey are just as real as the pilgrimage to the temple.  It seems that no matter where we look there is death and destruction.  There is murder and hunger and poverty.   Lost jobs, cancer, broken pipes, broken down vehicles with no money to repair them, depression, divorce, abuse, and sweet children who are struggling.  The heartbreak that touches our family and friends day in and day out.  It's all we can do to keep on swimming and keep our heads above water.  To keep moving.  Some days, it's hard to see the forest for the trees.  To see God's hand in the midst of tragedy and to wonder how we will make it.  To find encouragement and the faithfulness of God.

Thank goodness that God's faithfulness doesn't change depending on our side of the relationship, and what we feel at any given moment.  He is faithful, even when we don't see it.  While we are wandering in the wilderness, God sends His Son as the ultimate answer.  Allowing the cross and empty tomb to speak the final Word of victory in the midst of adversity, truth over the lies, and life in the midst of death.  So we can always be assured of His faithfulness, and to know that nothing will ever separate us from His love.

As God calls us out like Abraham, the journey is difficult, but we cling to the promise that we don't go alone.  May God's faithfulness sustain us, and protect our going out and coming in, both now and forever more.