If only...

As Ali and I have been driving across so many different highways, insterstates and back roads going accross the country I have noticed a certain sign quite frequently and I always hate to see it. The sign says "Rough Road Ahead" and basically it means that there is a stretch of road coming up that has multiple bumps, craters pot holes etc that can make your driving experience quite unpleasant (especially when you are driving a 16' truck and car trailer). It doesn't matter how fast or slow you go it is going to be unpleasant, frustrating and annoying.

If only real life came with warning signs like this so that we could know when "Rough Roads" are ahead. It's not like it would make a huge difference, I still have to drive the road and there's not really time to turn or stop so you just have to end up plowing forward knowing that shortly your journey is going to get bad. So often we think that it would be better if God would share His plans with us and let us in on His thinking...but as I have had time to reflect on some "rough roads" that I've gone through I don't know if I could stand to know what was coming.

Here is the weird thing, as bumpy and unpleasant as the road was, it was almost completely contained within the right lane...the left lane was almost perfect. If I would just shift over to the left a little bit the whole experience was completely different. I think that if when we go through these unpleasant parts of life we shift just a little bit to what God's perspectivce is, it may not take us off the "rough road" but it does may the overall experience more bareable. This unfortunately isn't as easy as just shifting to the left lane but it is still possible. Ask God to use you to point others to Him even in the midst of hardship. You may have to ask more than once and getting in the Word and knealing before the Father on a regular basis sure makes this easier, but don't take my word for it. Try it out.