“A Bump in the Road”
Greetings, Dear Friends ~
I pray you know the love of God, which exceeds our capacity to understand! It is my privilege to offer today’s Selah blog article entitled, “A Bump in the Road.”
How many times have you been going about life, minding your own business, doing what you were supposed to do—and seemingly from out of nowhere, you hit a bump in the road?! When challenged, we can react in several ways:
- Shout and protest in anger because the bump exists—after we hit it!
- Do nothing; and wait for the bump to go away.
- Embrace the challenge and allow God to guide us through it.
These bumps, I believe, can serve multiple purposes. They reveal what is in us, how much we have grown, and how must we trust God. Many things we say are tested. It is easy to profess what we believe, but a much greater challenge to practice what we preach! This is not an indictment against us, just an observation!!!
Let’s take the three observations above apart (note: this is not an exhaustive list of reactions but is simply meant to encourage us to think):
Shout and protest in anger because the bump exists—after we hit it!
As much as we might hope not to react this way, it happens. We might think we are much farther along in our Christian journey—that we can maintain a sense of calm. But this is not always true. We might just be having a bad day, which is opportune time for the enemy of our souls to strike!
Then, what can compound our situation is when the enemy reminds us of our failure—a double whammy! Especially during these times, we so need the assurance of God’s grace and forgiveness. We get up, dust ourselves off, and move forward. We realize that being angry and making a lot of noise will get us nowhere and will often make our situations worse. We allow the Lord to put us in recovery, accept His love, and pray He will help us to react better the next time. Lessons often come repeatedly until we learn from them. It is part of our spiritual growth!
Do nothing; and wait for the bump to go away.
Unfortunately, this reaction does just what is says—nothing! In this context, I am talking about avoiding (and not addressing) the issue. God is sometimes calling us to act, but we choose to have our heads in the sand. This is paralytic, and the problem can seem to get bigger and bigger simply because we are not doing anything. There are specific times when the Lord wants us to be still, yet there are other times when we cannot afford to waste time by ignoring the problem. The bump will not go away; and even if it does, it will return.
Embrace the bump (challenge) and allow God to guide us through it.
This, My Friends, is our best course of action. When we are confronted with a bump or challenge, it is best for us if we: acknowledge it; examine what God is saying about it; and let Him safely guide us in resolving it. In this way, not only will the bump go away, but we will grow stronger because we addressed it. I am not saying this is easy; often it is not.
We are human, and apart from God, we carry within us a limited capacity. But GOD is not limited, and “the One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (from 1 John 4:4)! The enemy (which is sometimes us!) seeks to kill, steal, and destroy; but God is always adding to our lives in great abundance! “We can do ALL things [ordained by God] through Christ Who gives us strength” (Philippians 4:13)!
Let’s remain in prayer so we are ready when the next bump in the road appears—not seeking to shout and protest or do nothing and hope it goes away—but purposed to embrace it and allow God, by His Spirit, to guide us safely to the other side. It might be rough, but we will get there by the grace and love of Almighty God!
Thank you, once again, for allowing me to share with you! May our God fill your life to the brim and allow you to see the overflow! This is my prayer for you as you remember my mantra . . . This world is definitely a much better place because you are in it! God’s peace and blessings!
Until Next Time, My Dear Friends,
Selah