The Open Road: Discovering God in Every Journey
Apparently, people in the Bible did a fair amount of traveling.
When Heidi approached me with the idea of a Scriptural study of roads, a few examples came to mind. Opening my Bible opened a flood gate of references to roads and travel:
Abraham did a fair amount of traveling in his life.
Joseph was put on a desert road trip by his brothers.
The Israelites did an extensive amount of traveling through the wilderness.
People met their spouses and found refreshing water alongside the road.
Jesus traveled in His mother’s womb, as a toddler, and during His ministry on all kinds of roads.
Jesus traveled the road to Emmaus with His disciples after His resurrection and on that road revealed what the Scriptures said about Him.
I’m looking forward to walking the roads of heaven with Jesus. Imagine having Him teach us as we walk alongside Him in the flesh!
As I turned the pages of my Bible and went to search the internet, I came across passages that make me scrunch up my face and think, “What in the world is Jesus saying?” Consider Matthew 7:13-14 for a moment. It made my face contort up all funny. The passage talks about the road that leads to life as hard and narrow, while the road and gate that lead to destruction are wide.
Later in Matthew, Jesus uses metaphor to help give us a picture of this, telling us it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for someone to enter the kingdom of God.
That all sounds pretty hopeless. Especially for a person, like me, who struggles on the roads of life. Jesus’ words to His disciples might add salt to our real and metaphorical wounds as He points out our earthly reality in the very same passage:
The road isn’t just hard — it is impossible for man.
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
Matthew 19:26
It would be impossible for us to get our big, bumbling bodies into the kingdom of God. Yes, it is impossible for us, but salvation is of God and God is for us and all things are possible with Him. Jesus makes salvation an open road. Many of our roads sound hopeless and filled with terror or uncertainty until we are reminded that it isn’t about walking this path of life on our own. It is all about what Christ has done for us. Just as He created a road through the Red Sea for the Israelites, He creates our roads. We don’t need to worry about making our own way because Jesus created the roads and leads us on our way. It is not only possible, but it is promised in Jesus Christ that God gets our bumbling camel bodies through the eye of the needle. And He won’t leave us hanging on any road, trying to find a way in the darkness, desert, or plain old mental confusion on our own.
He leads.
Just as He used the dry desert road trip Joseph was placed on by his brothers for good instead of evil, Jesus uses the difficult roads we travel for our good and the good of others. We don’t need to fret about staying on the road because He picks us up out of the ditches. He is faithful even when we take a foolish and delinquent road. Jesus restores and reclaims roads we may have torn up in haste just as He restored Jacob and Esau’s relationship.
He went to the cross to restore our relationship with Him, so any road we walk now is paved with His Spirit and His mercy guiding us.
He leads.
We can praise and proclaim on all the roads no matter the condition just as the woman at the well did. We do not need to be anxious because it is less about the shape of the road and more about what Jesus is doing on that road.
Join us for the full study of these roads we find in the Bible and in our own lives.
There will be so many ways to remember that He leads us:
· God creates our roads just as He created a path for the Israelites in the desert.
· Jesus meets us on the roads of life just as He did for the Samaritan woman.
· Jesus knows the roads we have been on just as He knew the roads the prodigal son traveled.
· Jesus walks with us on the road just as He did with His disciples while they traveled to Emmaus, and He reveals things about Himself to us on the road of our lives.
We start right here on October 6th and study as a community through November 15th. There will be:
· A study blog post each Monday-Thursday
· Study videos released each Sunday morning, available to watch anytime during the week
· Live conversations every Thursday at 9:00am (CST) on the “Heidi Goehmann Writes” Facebook Page
In the comments, give us a holler if you are studying with us and tell us something interesting about the road you live on!
Can’t wait to study with you,
Katie
Up next week: Mental Health Middle Readers
In the meantime: Find or share pics for our Roads Photo Challenge on our social media (links below!)