You’re going to need this, there’s plenty of varmints on the road.”
–Frank Baugher (Preacher’s Corner)
“The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses are despised, no one is respected.”
–Isaiah 33:8 (NIV)
——————————–
A few years back we were on a little trip and decided to go to the site where my folks lived when they first came from Oklahoma in 1936. We went over Cottonwood Pass, which had some memories for we had to pull off the road and camp there one night back in the 1970s (oh, so long ago). The car I was driving vapor locked and it simply wouldn’t go any further up the pass so I pulled it over and set up camp–in the rain with only the dog to help. It wasn’t a good night, Annie and I, two little girls, and a beagle, but we did sleep well. But it was the road we had to travel and the next morning the car started right up and over the pass we went.
Back to the later trip; after Cottonwood Pass we stopped for a little while at Tin Cup in Taylor Park. My Grandpa used to fish there in years gone by, then we headed through Tin Cup and up over Cumberland Pass. It was the road we had to travel, so up we went. My old Dodge Dakota climbed easily despite the weather; it had begun to rain mixed with sleet and snow. The road became treacherous, but onward and upward, there was no other way. We were in the clouds when we reached the summit and the weather had slackened. We continued on the rocky, dirt road up over Waunita Pass, which isn’t a bad pass but the road was terrible, filled with washboards. On the other side of this pass was where the cabin once stood. It was the third time I had visited the cabin, but this time it had fallen apart. The roof was caved in, one side was leaning inward. Now the road was still rough and rocky, but there the driving was easy through the pasture land, the many copses of aspens and by Waunita Hot Springs. We had to travel this road to get to our destination.
I might ask, what type of road are you traveling on today? Some of you may be traveling through a storm. Let me tell you, I’ve driven through all sorts of storms: snow with white-outs, heavy rain and thunderstorms, fog so thick you could cut it with a knife, a tornado moving nearby. However, I couldn’t let the storm stop me from my destination. Once I was on a trip and there was a problem with my vehicle’s engine. Everytime I stopped for gas, I had to put water in the radiator. Now, I remember going through the deserts of Arizona and California years ago when Dad would tie a bag of water in front of the radiator to help cool the engine and to use if needed. Problems on the road, they cannot be totally avoided, but no matter the trouble we travel on that road–we had to if we wanted to reach our destination.
“How much longer?” Oh, how many times have I heard that? My normal response was “an hour and a half.” “Are we almost there?” We’ll be there in about an hour and a half. It didn’t really matter, we had to travel that road no matter how long it took. Sometimes time seems to drag on. Will we ever make it? I recall the words from a Walt Mills song:
“Sometimes it seems like I’m standing still,
Until I look back and see,
How deep my valley, how high the hill
And each step nearer to eternity.”
No matter where we travel, on fine highways that are straight and smooth, or on curvy, winding roads that are full of ruts, we keep going. We are traveling the road to our heavenly home. We are light and salt to those who pass our way no matter the direction they are going. Someone once put it this way, “Christianity is made for the road.” We meet all sorts on the road and we are to be a testimony to them. We are to go onward to our destination, knowing that each mile is directed by Him, that each step of the way He is with us. Jesus walks with us each step of each day until finally one day we will reach our destination. See we travel this road–it is the only one we have that gets us to our destination.
“I’m following Jesus one step at a time,
I live for the moment in His love divine.
Why think of tomorrow, just live for today,
I’m following Jesus, each step of the way.
The pathway is narrow but He leads me on,
I walk in His shadow, my fears are all gone.
My spirit grows stronger, each moment, each day,
For Jesus is leading each step of the way.
–Redd Harper
“The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses are despised, no one is respected.”
–Isaiah 33:8 (NIV)
——————————–
A few years back we were on a little trip and decided to go to the site where my folks lived when they first came from Oklahoma in 1936. We went over Cottonwood Pass, which had some memories for we had to pull off the road and camp there one night back in the 1970s (oh, so long ago). The car I was driving vapor locked and it simply wouldn’t go any further up the pass so I pulled it over and set up camp–in the rain with only the dog to help. It wasn’t a good night, Annie and I, two little girls, and a beagle, but we did sleep well. But it was the road we had to travel and the next morning the car started right up and over the pass we went.
Back to the later trip; after Cottonwood Pass we stopped for a little while at Tin Cup in Taylor Park. My Grandpa used to fish there in years gone by, then we headed through Tin Cup and up over Cumberland Pass. It was the road we had to travel, so up we went. My old Dodge Dakota climbed easily despite the weather; it had begun to rain mixed with sleet and snow. The road became treacherous, but onward and upward, there was no other way. We were in the clouds when we reached the summit and the weather had slackened. We continued on the rocky, dirt road up over Waunita Pass, which isn’t a bad pass but the road was terrible, filled with washboards. On the other side of this pass was where the cabin once stood. It was the third time I had visited the cabin, but this time it had fallen apart. The roof was caved in, one side was leaning inward. Now the road was still rough and rocky, but there the driving was easy through the pasture land, the many copses of aspens and by Waunita Hot Springs. We had to travel this road to get to our destination.
I might ask, what type of road are you traveling on today? Some of you may be traveling through a storm. Let me tell you, I’ve driven through all sorts of storms: snow with white-outs, heavy rain and thunderstorms, fog so thick you could cut it with a knife, a tornado moving nearby. However, I couldn’t let the storm stop me from my destination. Once I was on a trip and there was a problem with my vehicle’s engine. Everytime I stopped for gas, I had to put water in the radiator. Now, I remember going through the deserts of Arizona and California years ago when Dad would tie a bag of water in front of the radiator to help cool the engine and to use if needed. Problems on the road, they cannot be totally avoided, but no matter the trouble we travel on that road–we had to if we wanted to reach our destination.
“How much longer?” Oh, how many times have I heard that? My normal response was “an hour and a half.” “Are we almost there?” We’ll be there in about an hour and a half. It didn’t really matter, we had to travel that road no matter how long it took. Sometimes time seems to drag on. Will we ever make it? I recall the words from a Walt Mills song:
“Sometimes it seems like I’m standing still,
Until I look back and see,
How deep my valley, how high the hill
And each step nearer to eternity.”
No matter where we travel, on fine highways that are straight and smooth, or on curvy, winding roads that are full of ruts, we keep going. We are traveling the road to our heavenly home. We are light and salt to those who pass our way no matter the direction they are going. Someone once put it this way, “Christianity is made for the road.” We meet all sorts on the road and we are to be a testimony to them. We are to go onward to our destination, knowing that each mile is directed by Him, that each step of the way He is with us. Jesus walks with us each step of each day until finally one day we will reach our destination. See we travel this road–it is the only one we have that gets us to our destination.
“I’m following Jesus one step at a time,
I live for the moment in His love divine.
Why think of tomorrow, just live for today,
I’m following Jesus, each step of the way.
The pathway is narrow but He leads me on,
I walk in His shadow, my fears are all gone.
My spirit grows stronger, each moment, each day,
For Jesus is leading each step of the way.
–Redd Harper