A rocky path

There are roads we travel that are well paved, smooth, with no imperfections; roads that allow us to appreciate both the straights and the corners with only a small amount of risk to ourselves. 

These are the roads street bike riders long for, and enjoy. Roads with a broken surface, gravel, or even dirt are not what most street bikes were designed to travel. 

When we get off the beaten path, the road is more difficult and requires more focus and concentration. Tires that were designed for smooth surfaces are now trying to navigate uneven terrain. Suspension that is able to compensate for the minor variations on a paved surface now finds the end of its limits in holes and ruts and over rocks. 

Taken even further into the wilderness, the situation becomes more grim. The rubber that was never designed to deal with dirt and hidden rocks, some with sharp edges, is now vulnerable to damage and failure, nevermind that the suspension has now completely bottomed out several times.

Our lives are not so dissimilar from the troubles of taking a street bike off-road. We want our comfort, our security, and while riding a motorcycle carries with it an element of risk, most of the time, we simply ride for the joy of the moment with no desire to compound that risk with any further complications. 

Then our life takes an unexpected turn and we end up on a metaphorical gravel or dirt road, the mud and leaves, the detritus of life suddenly throwing us out of our comfort zone. Illness, injury, a family member causing drama, the sudden death of a loved one, and a long list of other catastrophic events enter our lives and can cause our pleasant ride to turn into a nightmare.

Last year, my wife's family suffered through great loss, due to cancer and wasting disease, and then there was an unexpected motorcycle crash to further complicate matters, and to make it even worse, our son came back into our lives for a few months and in December threatened us because we would not give him money and within a week was back in jail (for an unrelated incident). These are life events that make us wonder and question. We become angry: at life, at ourselves, at God. We even get to the point where we question if God is even there while we are suffering. 

These are the times when hope is so very necessary, when we need to know there is a purpose, when we need to see the end of the rocky path and know that there is some sort of meaning to it all. 

The psalmist David wrote: 

"The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

    he delivers them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

The righteous person may have many troubles,

    but the Lord delivers him from them all;

He protects all his bones,

    not one of them will be broken." (Psalm 34:17-20 NIV)

This is a promise to which I have held and from which I have gathered peace. Through great grief and loss, there has been hope and I know that while this life is filled with pain, there is One who stands at the throne of the Most High and pleads for me. This is the hope I have and it keeps me going until I finally will see the end of the path. 

May you be safe, well, and blessed. 

May the wind always be at your back, and may your wheels never be parallel to the ground.