Dangerous Ruts
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3
A few years ago, my husband and I bought our boys dirtbikes. We, of course, had to test drive them. Suddenly, we were children again, racing through the fields laughing and trying to out pace one another around the path, laughing and giggling. My husband got out in front of me, so I cut the corner to try and gain some ground. I sped through tall grass in a desperate attempt to ‘win at all cost’. Unfortunately, the tall grass hid a deep rut cut in by farm equipment and before I knew what had happened, my back tire refused to come out of the rut and I was on the ground, cut up and bleeding. I gave my brothers quite the laugh as I tried to hide my injuries (which were very minor) from my mom, who tends to worry.
I was going along fine, I thought, until that unseen rut pulled me off my trajectory and knocked me off my wheels, literally. I didn’t expect it, didn’t prepare for it, and it happened so quickly, that there was little I could do to stop it. The choice that changed everything was, what I did afterward. It hurt, and I could have laid there on the ground caught up in my pains and injuries. I could have walked the bike back to the house and chosen to not ride it anymore. But, I jumped up and got back on, I took off even faster, trying to catch up to my husband who, by now, had left me in the dust. He never realized I was down until we got back to the house.
Many times we hit those same types of ruts in our spiritual lives. Life pulls us off our path, and it can do so quickly and without warning. We find ourselves outside of the path we intended to be on, and waylaid by an unseen enemy. We often don’t even realize it’s happening until we look up and realize we’re not where we’re supposed to be. Personally, it felt like I really had reasons to be dissatisfied with tons of small things. The songs at church could be better, after all… they’re old and tired… Surely, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like that we were sometimes admonished for living lives that to me seemed perfectly acceptable… after all, there were so many people I knew who were doing far worse things… Did we REALLY need to go to three services a week? (In reality, I was already down to 2… but, I was looking for excuses to cut one of those out as well.)
I will forever be thankful for the sense of dissatisfaction with my own attitude that settled over me. I could very well have shook it off and continued in my rut, finding fault with everyone else but me… But, something happened. I saw someone else experiencing the joy that can only come from a close walk with our Lord. Someone tearfully stood to testify about how good God had been to them. Someone spoke about the joy that had been put in their heart and how they would forever be thankful to our Lord for saving their soul. And as I stood there, I remembered… I remembered when I used to feel that way. I remembered when my soul sang out to Him in gratitude… and I longed to feel that again. It would be months before I righted my ship, months of trying to get back to that place on my own terms before I surrendered control over my life to His will.
The good news is… He was right where I’d left Him… waiting for me to return and put Him first in my life again. He swept me up into His arms and welcomed home His wayward child with open arms and blessings beyond my wildest dreams. He’s there waiting on the sidelines of each of His children who have pushed him to the edges of their lives. He’s coaching, pleading, calling to each of us to return to Him.
For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. 2 Chronicles 30:9b
He loves us and treats us all so much better than we deserve. We deserve nothing but death and destruction and yet He went out of His way to offer us a life more abundant than anything we could create for ourselves. How does the testimony of your brothers and sisters affect you? Do you understand the level of joy they display toward our Savior? Are you experiencing that joy today? If not, you can! You can return to that initial joy of your salvation. He wants that for you. We don’t have to let the ruts of life that throw us off track to keep us down for long. We only need to look to Him. He is willing and able to help us find our way back to Him and to a relationship that brings joy to every part of our lives. Talk to Him today!
