Don’t you hate it when you’re running late, jump in the car, buckle up, and head out, only to hit a crawl a few miles down the road? You ease out the clutch, inch forward five feet, and repeat the process at least fifty times. Glancing at the clock, you realize you’ve been stuck in this rolling parking lot for over twenty minutes.
I’ll admit, before construction starts, I’m the first to gripe about potholes and crumbling roads. Dodging pitfalls, I mutter, “Why don’t they fix these blasted roads?” But months later, when the construction is done, that first drive on the new road is a Tow Mater moment! It’s smooth, quiet, and a joy to drive. Imagine if you took an alternate route and never experienced the new road! Eventually, though, potholes return, and the construction crew sets out the cones again.
One certainty in this world is that we’ll face trials. Some choose a different path, running from God, but we all long for a smoother journey. When it’s time to improve our lives, few embrace the process eagerly. Yet, if we let the Lord work in us, our lives become new—better—and we’re filled with joy and a fresh outlook. If we don’t maintain that renewed relationship, though, our lives get bumpy again. In our fast-paced world, it’s no easy task to stop, be still, and wait for the Lord.
My prayer for you and me is that we won’t reject the Lord’s correction but will see His good work in us. May we nurture a life overflowing with the true joy and peace that surpasses understanding.
“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’” —Jeremiah 18:1-6