The Ride of Faith. . .

Over this past weekend, we were really busy here in Guyana.  When we have teams here, we are ALWAYS busy.  But it is a good kind of busy.

As the team begins to wind down in their activities of the week, we really have a lot to do.  The first part is bringing in all the supplies the team has used over the last week, making sure everything is okay and in good repair, and getting the team ready to leave.  The leaving part is FULL of details.

First off, we have to make sure their tickets are reconfirmed.  Here, if you don't reconfirm your ticket, the airline can give your seat away.  So we get that done.  Then, we go out to the airport and pre board the group.  The airline has been doing this for years for us, and it really helps us and them too.  We get their boarding passes for the next day, and that way we KNOW they are on the aircraft.  It is good for the airline, because it allows them to pre board a large segment of the aircraft, and makes check in the next day easier for them too.

The bad side for us, is it requires TWO trips to the airport in an 18 hour period.  And the airport trip is one hour each way.  It is only about 25 miles one way. . .but the trip is difficult in every way.  It is a two lane road, that is one of the major roads in the country.  And EVERYTHING shares that road.  Cars, Trucks, Busses, Farm Equipment, Horse carts, Donkey carts, cows, horses, goats, pigs, . . . . EVERYTHING.

Furthermore, it is a bumpy ride full of potholes, and other surprises.  To say the least, it is a ride that is not for the faint of heart.

This past weekend, on my second round trip there. . . I was exhausted.  Lucky for me, Bob was driving.  This meant that I didn't pay a lot of attention to the trip, and in fact. . . I just laid back and took a nap.  Now that was really a nap of faith, due to the conditions of the road. . . but I have great faith in Bob's driving ability.  In fact, I slept like a baby ( as much as you can in a car hurling down a bumpy road ).

It made me think about the relationship we have with our Heavenly Father.  You see, many times we try to "help" him drive down the bumpy road in front of us.  We worry, we fret, we get all concerned. . . but HE is the one that is driving.  Why do we forget that?

I was reading a passage today, and this really leapt out at me.  Romans 5:1-2 says; " Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."

WOW!

We put our faith in Him to drive us through the rough spots, and as a result, we have peace and grace.  And this gives us every reason to rejoice!  Because of the hope we have in God's glory.

I had faith in Bob as a driver, and so. . .I had peace.  And Paul reminds us in Romans 5, that when we have faith in God. . . we have peace.  Wonderful, refreshing, absolute peace.

Lot's of times, we lack peace...and grace in our lives.  I am convinced that the reason for that is that we don't have faith in the one who is driving us on the road of life.

We lack joy in our lives because we don't have faith.  We lack peace in our lives because we don't have faith.  We lack grace in our lives. . . because we don't have faith.

We put faith in Bus Drivers, Airline Pilots, other drivers on the road, our Doctor's, Lawyers, and even our Preachers. . . but we don't often afford that same faith to the one who deserves it the most.

How is the Joy / Grace / Peace / and Hope factor in your life?  If you find it lacking, perhaps you need to look and see who is driving.  Sometimes, we try to drive ourselves, or we trust in others to drive us on the road of life. . . when God is waiting on us to let him drive.

He is worthy of our Faith.  He is capable of handling our Faith in Him.  And He is waiting for us to give it to Him.  And He is waiting, so he can shower us with the blessing of His Peace, His Grace, His Joy, and His Hope.

Turn loose of the steering wheel.  Let him drive you through the road of life!  And put your Faith in Him.

Peace awaits. . . and so much more!

See you on the Road!

STEVE