Life's A Lonely Journey

There’s something lacking in my driving ability. Other people pass me, and they wave. All I seem to be able to see are the holes in the road, and the signs. I’m really not unfriendly, but I just never got the habit of peering through the windshield to see who is in the car coming at me. Lately, I’ve been trying.

About 32 of my 45 years of ministry were in the big cities. Country boy that I was, I learned quickly about city driving. You don’t see people in cars. All you see are fenders, and bumpers. On the Outer Drive in Chicago, you see 2 or 4 or even 6 cars sneaking up behind you. They pass you on the left and they pass you on the right. They breathe down your tailgate. It’s like being in the middle of a buffalo stampede. And for some reason, all the vehicles sound angry…tires screeching, mufflers belching out fumes, brakes squealing, horns honking, radiators hissing, and now and then a car comes by, a window rolls down, and what looks almost like a human face yells at you or “gives you the finger!”

Needless to say, I’m glad to be in an area, where there are real people in cars, and folks smile, and wave, and seem to notice you now and then. I’ve got a lot of re-learning to do with my driving, but it occurred to me…what a wonderful thing that God doesn’t overlook me, like I tend to overlook folks. God is not bothered by our mechanical problems. He knows my name. Even every hair of my head is numbered. He is not confused by what I drive, or the lumps on my fenders. He knows me. He cares for me. He loves me.

It’s beautiful the way the Psalmist said it:

“O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me
Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up
Thou discernest my thoughts from afar
Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
And art acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
Lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.” (Ps. 139:1-4)

And then he goes on to say: “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” (Ps. 139:9,10)

Life may be a lonely journey, but it’s good to believe that along with the cars that honk, and the problems that hiss, there is also a God who cares and loves, and will never leave or forsake me.