Monday, November 27, 2017

the loneliest road





















Having just completed four days on the road in a car, I can say I really missed riding.  The Mustang was OK, until we hit US 191, aka “the devils road,” because of its former 666 designation.  A straight shot and winding curves rising to 4000’ to Clifton, then to Morenci and past the world largest open pit mine, one you must see to believe, the truck tires are over 10’ tall, and the trucks down below look small until parked next to a semi, and you can barely see the semi.  Big boys toys, trucks the Tonka trucks were based on, and then the road changes.  Leaving Morenci, a company town where all housing is company owned, the road immediately snakes and curves for the next 85 miles, or 2 1/2 hours by car up to 9300’, then down into Alpine, and all its 145 people.  Unbelievable beauty, to be shared with only the one you are with, at one time we saw only 6 cars in 48 miles.  We passed rams 2-3 times, and a group of deer by the road and stopped counting 12 one other.  No cell service, only the road and the beauty that surrounds it, we will go back next spring on two wheels.  No gas stops, no general stores, no traffic, and no noise, the silence can be deafening!  Looking much like Colorado, it is a different side to Arizona that we didn’t think existed.  But now that the secret is out I hope you can keep it, I’m depending on you.....
I have traveled many lightly traveled roads in the past, and often gone miles before seeing another car, but there was and is a certain beauty to this ride.  It seemed very personal, as around each curve the view was different, and just when you thought you had reached the top, another peak loomed ahead.  Suddenly the 4000 who call Morenci home made it feel like a metropolis, with stop signs and lights and everything.  But out here, no trucks, semis, minivans, and very few other to interfere.  Just like we would like our lives to be, but so often aren’t, as one person on the side of the road on a freeway will cause a jam, or a red light have traffic backed up, or the commute to Temecula has traffic backed up 13-15 miles every afternoon, I dream of roads like this, and the chance to ride them.  Where the biggest threat is leaving without a full tank or seeing wildlife on the road.  They all looked at us like “who are you guys and what are you doing here?”  Not sure how I would have answered...
But yet there were many turnoffs for mountain roads and hiking trails in the midst of this national forest.  You could go as far as your courage and curiosity would take you.  Which reminds me of my walk with Jesus.  Like many I have spent many years in church, learning about Jesus, learning the scriptures and being taught.  But until I got out and saw the beauty in experiencing Jesus, not just knowing him, I didn’t realize how lonely the road I was on was.  I was in a traffic jam of fellow believers, stuck in church, and not leaving the safety of what I knew and what had been taught.  We are told to walk in faith, yet we hide inside four walls, our faith never being tested so it can grow.  We follow the main road, the prescribed teaching, and don’t want to leave it, lest we encounter trouble.  We only need Sunday, maybe a midweek service, we read religiously every day, and then keep it to ourselves.  We never get to see what is over the hill because we never reach the top of it, and we never get to know Jesus first hand.  Oh we say we do, but when on a lonely road of divorce, cancer, losing your job, facing financial ruin, or a personal problem, do we turn to him or what we know?  I know a man who can quote scripture like many who have been through programs, a word for each situation, yet have never known how personal Jesus can be.  In those situations they never see him as the wonderful counselor who can heal their marriage, the great physician who heals them, the great provider who meets their need instead of their income, and how he never leaves us nor forsakes us when we turn to him.  It is possible and probable we can go through life and be around people, but be lonely and alone.  We tend to practice what we have learned, and sadly go back to that which we know when in trouble.  Remember the problem Moses had with the Jews who rather go back to Egypt and be in slavery just because the food was better?
Are we being fed great food but not benefitting from it?  Do we feed on the word for knowledge but never let it sink into our hearts?  Does a sign saying no service for 85 miles scare you or excite you?  No cell service, who do you call when you need assistance?  Very simply Jesus spent his life on the road, he was born there, his parents were traveling, he entered into Jerusalem on it, Philip met the eunech on it, two men were mystified encountering him on the road, and he was hung on a cross, along the road?  What if Jesus never got out of the temple, how different would things be?  Maybe giving a new understanding of how we are the temple the holy spirit dwells in, wherever we go, Jesus is.  Alone but never alone, the best prayer partner, the holy spirit with us, and never lonely.  The great shepherd who knows the ways and pitfalls, yet too many live their Christian walk stuck in traffic, just trying to keep up, a competition among the members,  with few striking out on their own in Jesus.  I know many who have gone to Israel and walked where Jesus walked, I rather know I walk with him and he with me.  My God is alive!
I also know those who would never travel a road called the devils highway, yet do everyday in fear.  Fear is not of God, reverence of him is, and shown by our actions, then our words.  You will only practice what you have been taught when your heart is fully convinced.  Until then it is knowledge, it only becomes wisdom when used.  God gave us a mind to think, and a will to make the decisions.  Are you like my friend who after passing the same diner for the third time realized his GPS was wrong, or do you strike out on your own, applying what you know and eating richly while others still are looking for a place to eat and park?  Your actions reveal what you believe, the words form your mouth what is on your heart.  I’m just glad that I am alone many times when the part of me still in process is revealed,  and even gladder that God provides me mercy in it.  So get out and ride, get out and live, get out and experience Jesus.  When some tell of their Christian knowledge, you can talk of your experience in him.  There is a difference.....
And if the road you are on is rough, know you are probably on the right road, and Jesus is the shock absorber.  The active suspension that can keep us on the road.  It is in the curves of life we learn to hang on and lean, and where we find Jesus.  And the straight and narrow, for that is the shortest way between two points.  God made both for our enjoyment, I rather lean on Jesus in the curves than on cruise control on the freeway, just waiting for the right exit to get off.  The open pit showed me how far of a pit we can dig and fall into, and how little we are in it when viewed from the top.  How big your God is to you will be shown by the roads you take, and who goes with you.  The loneliest road may be a traffic jam, funny how we never felt alone the whole ride, and how 145 people can seem like such a big crowd.....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com