On the Road

Hope International finds water for people who walk hours each day to bring this precious commodity to their families. We saw a film where the crew went to a village and changed the lives of its people with a well of clean, spring water. But before that could happen, they had to build a road just to get there.

Most travelers appreciate roads. Last year on our trip to Italy we were amazed at the road system with hundreds of tunnels through the mountains so people could easily go from one place to another. I’ve seen films of just the opposite, where the roads were deeply rutted or looked more like a squirrel track. Often buses and other vehicles crash or fall over a cliff because the road is narrow or nearly impassable.

When Jesus was born “in the fullness of time” part of God’s plan included good roads. The Roman system of roads were an important contribution to the task of sharing the Gospel. Jesus told His followers . . .

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

To get to the ends of the earth, the disciples needed the measure of ease and safety of a good road system so they could travel back and forth across the Roman empire. These roads were well paved, well drained, and usually patrolled.

When I think of the NT and roads, several come to mind. The road travelled by Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The roads Jesus walked as He made His way through the many places where He ministered to people. The road to Damascus where the man Saul was confronted by the resurrected Christ and transformed into the Apostle Paul. The road where an Ethiopian man met Philip and heard the Gospel, was baptized and took the good news with him to his homeland. The wise men travelled from the east on a road.

The word road can also be translated with highway, etc. However, this word is also a metaphor. God’s prophets told about the Messiah who would come and about John who would prepare people for His coming:

For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ” (Matthew 3:3)

Jesus also referred to following Him as a way, sometimes a path. He said, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:14)

Roads also remind me of maps. I often use them to get from here to there. Today, the Holy Spirit reminds me that the Word of God is a road map. It shows me life’s destination and God’s route, also the sidetracks, detours, and dead ends I must avoid. My travel from faith to greater faith, from here and now to heaven and eternity requires reading the map, studying it, staying off the roads that go nowhere or lead to destruction.

Reading God’s map means trusting it (not like the GPS that puts you in the center of a lake). There are many roads, but only One Way:

Jesus said . . . “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, the Roman roads seem like a side issue, but they were important to Your plan. Even more, the Word of God gives me greater understanding of the way I should take and helps me along that way. Yet even more than that, You are the way to my Father, the One I can trust even when the path seems twisted or dark or unsure. You hold my hand and You guide me on the amazing road of this life taking me safely to my final destination.

Faith is only as good as its object!

My husband likes to travel. If offered a trip even on the spur of the moment, he’d make a few quick phone calls to co-workers and immediately pack his bags.

Not me. If I were a dog, I’d be a German Shepherd laying on the front step or in front of the hearth, content with staying where I am and with the routines of my life (which is a bit of an oxymoron because my routine is constantly challenged by unexpected additions). I really don’t care for living out of a suitcase, at least not for an extended time.

Today’s reading is in Genesis 12. “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”

Abram had already traveled some distance. His father had taken him and his wife, and one grandson, Lot, from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran in Canaan. The Bible says nothing before this about Abram’s religion except that the call from God first came in Ur (Acts 7), and history shows that the people of both Ur and Haran were pagan.

With this call, God promised Abram that He would make his name great, make of him a great nation and bless all the families of the earth because of him, but he had to move. Abram responded and did what God asked.

The emphasis in his story is on his faith. Hebrews 11 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Faith is only as valid as its object. I might believe I can sing, but if my voice is not that of a singer, then my faith is misplaced, and no amount of believing will make me a singer. I might believe God will give me a fancy house with servants, but unless that is the will of God, my faith will not make it happen. Faith is about where it is placed, not about its own size, strength, intensity or determination.

Abram (who became Abraham) believed God, not because he like to travel, or his father wanted to move, or this looked like a good idea. He had no reason to think he would become father to a great nation, and even less when his wife turned out to be barren and childless until the age of ninety. He went because God told him to go, and he believed that God knows what is right, what should be done, and what is best for Abram and his wife.

Sarah seemed to have had no say in the matter. She may have complained, or been excited about the move. In any case, the New Testament talks of her as a woman who trusted God so much that she could do what her husband asked without any fear of the results. She knew that the secret of submission is not becoming a doormat (a popular misconception), but releasing the tyranny of always having to have her own way. (In their story, when she insisted on what she wanted, it led to disaster, not to say that wives can’t make decisions, but we need to be aware of our motives.) Sarah’s faith was just as much part of their move as her husband’s trust in God. Hebrews 11 commends her for her faith also.

As I think about this story and about my husband’s desire to travel, I’m reminded that faith means I can trust God to use travel as a means to blessing not only us, but others. He might even use even me, who would rather stay home, to be a blessing. If faith moved Abram and his wife to a new country, faith can also move me to go wherever God directs for a vacation. I’m just a little slower to pack my bags than my spouse.