Traffic.  It’s one of those things we all need to contend with if you live in suburbia or anywhere even close to a city.  Having grown up near Los Angeles, the freeway crawl was real for me.  Thankfully, Charlotte is an upgrade, but still can be a challenge at peak hours. Seems these days we can’t escape it no matter where we live.

Have you ever taken what you think is a short cut, only to find you are either lost or completely held up by stop lights and gridlock?  If only you had stayed the course.  If only you had not taken the exit too early.  If only you had listened to your GPS.

Such is life. 

We plan our comings and goings, thinking we can avoid certain headaches and frustrations.  We map out our course inside our heads, just wanting to sail on through.  We don’t plan for pot holes and flat tires.  We think, for the most part, if we just keep it between the lines, we are going to get along just fine.  

I don’t need to tell you how difficult the road can become.  We have all traveled it.  We find ourselves out on the highway doing well, minding our business, and heading where we need to go.  And then, out of nowhere, comes a stone that hits our proverbial windshield, and how we see our life is cracked or shattered. 

Minor or major, there are times we all need repair.  I know you can relate.

My point is, when we go through a rough patch, it can take us a while to get back up to speed again.  Sometimes we are forced to the roadside, having to watch others flying past, seemingly unconcerned.  We compare and despair.  We feel like a Ford Pinto on a freeway of Tesla’s.  We think our circumstances are too broken to be fixed. 

We wonder if God can even see us.

Everyone has times like these.  We question where we went wrong.  We second-guess every turn we made in faith, every fork in the road where we went right instead of left, every time we slowed down when we should have kept on going.  How is it some people are just better with directions than we are?

Maybe those who take short cuts are better off after all. 

I have lived long enough to know that there is only one way to get there from here.  There are hazards and storms and road blocks and mayhem of all kinds that we must pass through.  It can’t be avoided.  Our tanks will be empty or full.  We will have passengers we love and those that get off earlier than we would like.  There will be some who want to take the wheel, challenge us, hurt us, tell us we don’t know where we are going, drive us into a ditch…

But God knows where we are even when we can’t see what’s ahead.

Our destination is not always clearly marked.  But if we travel guided by honesty, kindness, love, and faithfulness, we will get there.  It’s the long and narrow road that God wants us to follow, not the one that the world tells us we should.  

We are only lost when we think we can do this life without Him.

If you have pulled off the road and in need of repair, know He is with you.  You were never meant to go it on your own.  You may have made a wrong turn or two. You may have gotten off course, been distracted by something in your rearview mirror, or maybe decided that you would take a detour.

The good news is that it is never too late.  God is always ready to show you the way.  He can take on all your scratches and dents and breakdowns.  He’s been healing and rebuilding folks just like you and me since time began. 

He’s always ready to give roadside assistance, 24/7.  All we have to do is ask. 

Go on.  Give it a try.  Ask for directions.

Just open up the door, and let Him in.