A Ride in the Dark
In January of 2000, Linda and I left Albany, GA to go to bible school in upstate New York. As it happened, we took a side trip to visit my dad whom we had not seen since 1988 when he married Lorraine (after Mom’s death). All of my life up till then, I had not been accepted as an adult. I was considered the baby, Doug’s son, and for the most part, I had acted like a kid.
However, God had changed me. On the way to their home, we had to go on back roads through the woods and up a mountain. It was about 2pm and though it was cool, the sun was bright and we could see everything.
Our car was loaded past capacity. We had everything we owned in it, except for a couple of boxes of pictures we had mailed. The trunk and back seat were filled to the ceiling. The only mirrors that were usable were the side-view mirrors. We had just enough room to sit in the front seat and a little more to occasionally move some. Suffice to say that the car was hanging rather low in the back.
We seemed to bottom out on every rut or mound that was in the dirt road. We lost count how many times we hit the ground, hoping and praying that the bottom of the car would not fall off. We were terrified! Every time we bottomed out, the car would jerk and we would be bounced around. This happened all the way up the mountain for the next 20 minutes or so at about 30-40 mph. This was a one-lane road almost entirely. One side up the mountain and on the other DOWN the mountain; a steep cliff.
We spent a wonderful evening with Dad and Lorraine. They both had been saved and we were all able to talk and fellowship in the Lord the whole night. We originally intended to stay for just a couple of hours, but ended up staying for dinner and the night. I was accepted as an adult by my dad and he talked to me man to man. He treated me as an equal and I felt his acceptance, something he had never done before.
The next morning, we had to go back DOWN that same mountain. However, it was now dark. We had to leave before 7am and in the mountains of Tennessee near Knoxville, it is still dark at that time in January. There are no lights on the sides of the road in rural areas such as where my dad lived. The only lights were on our car. It was also snowing some, overcast, and we could barely see the road, let alone, the dips and holes. If we could see 50 feet ahead, we were doing good. Mostly, I just kept my dads taillights in front of me and went.
We bottomed out 3 times. Period! Not one of those times did it jerk the car or throw us around. It just scraped a little and we kept going. Linda and I joked and chatted the whole way down, there was no fear; in fact it did not even occur to us to be afraid. We did not even realize until we had reached the highway that not only did the trip seem to only take a few minutes but we realized that we had NOT been afraid like we had when we went up the mountain alone, seeing everything that was in our path.
This is how God wants us to live. He wants us to follow Him and keep our eyes on Him alone. Never concerning ourselves with what is happening around us, just paying enough attention not to fall off a cliff. If we keep our eyes focused on Him, we will only see His light. We will not see the darkness all around, we will not see the holes, pits, bumps and other obstacles in our way. Neither will they bother us in the least, for we have our eyes focused on our Father and HE KNOWS THE EXACTLY CORRECT WAY to go. He will not lead us where we cannot go with Him.
Does this mean that there are no holes, no pits, not obstacles? NO! He just leads us past them and we take no notice. Why? Because He purposely keeps us in the dark. We THINK we would love to know everything we are going to face. We think we will to be prepared for anything that way. However, what we are really doing is NOT relying on Him; we are relying on ourselves and our abilities. We are trusting in what we can see and avoid in our own strength.
That is NOT how we are to live in Christ Jesus. We are to trust Him no matter what. Even if we do not see a thing, only a small field of view in front of us because of the darkness all around and the storms of life that surround us. We will be kept safe in Christ Jesus, IF we keep our eyes on HIM ALONE! We will go through the tough times, the wilderness, the rough roads, the dark forest of experience, and even the pitfalls put in place by the enemy. Somehow, if we keep our eyes on HIM and do not attempt to do anything but follow Him, He keeps us safe and sound, by-passing all of those things that we would have hit if we could see that well and rely on ourselves.
We do not understand how much we do not trust the Lord. We want so much information; we want so much foreknowledge of what lies on our path. We think we will do better if we KNOW what is ahead. My friends, it may very well be God’s mercy and GRACE to keep us from seeing those obstacles, so that we HAVE to utterly trust Him by keeping our eyes focused on Him while He leads us through the dark.
I pray this helps each of us look only toward Him at all times in our lives.
God bless you all!
A bondslave in Christ Jesus, Dirk
In January of 2000, Linda and I left Albany, GA to go to bible school in upstate New York. As it happened, we took a side trip to visit my dad whom we had not seen since 1988 when he married Lorraine (after Mom’s death). All of my life up till then, I had not been accepted as an adult. I was considered the baby, Doug’s son, and for the most part, I had acted like a kid.
However, God had changed me. On the way to their home, we had to go on back roads through the woods and up a mountain. It was about 2pm and though it was cool, the sun was bright and we could see everything.
Our car was loaded past capacity. We had everything we owned in it, except for a couple of boxes of pictures we had mailed. The trunk and back seat were filled to the ceiling. The only mirrors that were usable were the side-view mirrors. We had just enough room to sit in the front seat and a little more to occasionally move some. Suffice to say that the car was hanging rather low in the back.
We seemed to bottom out on every rut or mound that was in the dirt road. We lost count how many times we hit the ground, hoping and praying that the bottom of the car would not fall off. We were terrified! Every time we bottomed out, the car would jerk and we would be bounced around. This happened all the way up the mountain for the next 20 minutes or so at about 30-40 mph. This was a one-lane road almost entirely. One side up the mountain and on the other DOWN the mountain; a steep cliff.
We spent a wonderful evening with Dad and Lorraine. They both had been saved and we were all able to talk and fellowship in the Lord the whole night. We originally intended to stay for just a couple of hours, but ended up staying for dinner and the night. I was accepted as an adult by my dad and he talked to me man to man. He treated me as an equal and I felt his acceptance, something he had never done before.
The next morning, we had to go back DOWN that same mountain. However, it was now dark. We had to leave before 7am and in the mountains of Tennessee near Knoxville, it is still dark at that time in January. There are no lights on the sides of the road in rural areas such as where my dad lived. The only lights were on our car. It was also snowing some, overcast, and we could barely see the road, let alone, the dips and holes. If we could see 50 feet ahead, we were doing good. Mostly, I just kept my dads taillights in front of me and went.
We bottomed out 3 times. Period! Not one of those times did it jerk the car or throw us around. It just scraped a little and we kept going. Linda and I joked and chatted the whole way down, there was no fear; in fact it did not even occur to us to be afraid. We did not even realize until we had reached the highway that not only did the trip seem to only take a few minutes but we realized that we had NOT been afraid like we had when we went up the mountain alone, seeing everything that was in our path.
This is how God wants us to live. He wants us to follow Him and keep our eyes on Him alone. Never concerning ourselves with what is happening around us, just paying enough attention not to fall off a cliff. If we keep our eyes focused on Him, we will only see His light. We will not see the darkness all around, we will not see the holes, pits, bumps and other obstacles in our way. Neither will they bother us in the least, for we have our eyes focused on our Father and HE KNOWS THE EXACTLY CORRECT WAY to go. He will not lead us where we cannot go with Him.
Does this mean that there are no holes, no pits, not obstacles? NO! He just leads us past them and we take no notice. Why? Because He purposely keeps us in the dark. We THINK we would love to know everything we are going to face. We think we will to be prepared for anything that way. However, what we are really doing is NOT relying on Him; we are relying on ourselves and our abilities. We are trusting in what we can see and avoid in our own strength.
That is NOT how we are to live in Christ Jesus. We are to trust Him no matter what. Even if we do not see a thing, only a small field of view in front of us because of the darkness all around and the storms of life that surround us. We will be kept safe in Christ Jesus, IF we keep our eyes on HIM ALONE! We will go through the tough times, the wilderness, the rough roads, the dark forest of experience, and even the pitfalls put in place by the enemy. Somehow, if we keep our eyes on HIM and do not attempt to do anything but follow Him, He keeps us safe and sound, by-passing all of those things that we would have hit if we could see that well and rely on ourselves.
We do not understand how much we do not trust the Lord. We want so much information; we want so much foreknowledge of what lies on our path. We think we will do better if we KNOW what is ahead. My friends, it may very well be God’s mercy and GRACE to keep us from seeing those obstacles, so that we HAVE to utterly trust Him by keeping our eyes focused on Him while He leads us through the dark.
I pray this helps each of us look only toward Him at all times in our lives.
God bless you all!
A bondslave in Christ Jesus, Dirk