Lowlands, Hills and Mountains

Lowlands, Hills, and Mountains

June 2, SC, NC, VA

James 1:2-4 (NIV)  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

The day had finally arrived. We were leaving on our two- month vacation on the motorcycle. It was a beautiful morning in Dorchester, SC. We were all packed and ready to go. We left our house about 9:00 am and headed to Roanoke, VA to stay with a friend, Dave Miller. It was about 330 miles to his house. What a day!

We rode through South Carolina and its lowlands and sand hills towards North Carolina. Once in North Carolina we saw some hills and valleys. Along the way it did some raining but no thunder and lightning! I was thankful for that. And then, into the beautiful state of Virginia! Interstates 77 and 81 through Virginia are gorgeous! You can look out and see the landscape for many miles. You are in the mountains!! Your stomach is full of butterflies as you look over God’s creation from the motorcycle. There is nothing like the view from there. However, at the same time I hate the feeling of maybe going over the side! It’s crazy! We made it fine and landed at Dave’s house around 5:45 pm. No worse for the wear! It had been smooth sailing except for the little bit of rain and the curves in the mountains.

As I pondered over what to write about God spoke to me. Your ride today is like your life. Sometimes it’s flatlands and smooth sailing. During those times you coast along and maybe don’t read your Bible and pray diligently. You seem to act like you don’t need HIM as much as other times.

It seemed like all of a sudden the rain was up ahead although we had seen some gray clouds in the sky. We had to stop and put on our rain gear so we wouldn’t get soaked. That’s kind of like trials. Sometimes they seem to sneak up on us when we least expect them. When it hits, it may take the wind out of our sail. We have to regroup. There we go, right to the Lord, and begin to pray. We read our Bible and look for promises to support us during those times. And, the Lord is faithful. He comes through once again bringing peace and hope as we walk the journey.

Sometimes the mountains and the curves come. For me, they push me to prayer immediately. I have a love-hate relationship with the mountains and the curves. I love the beauty that you see from the mountains as you ride in the open, but the curves scare me to death. Sometimes I think I don’t trust my husband as the driver and don’t trust God to protect us as we ride. Then the gentle-speaking Holy Spirit brings peace and rest to my soul so I can once again enjoy the beauty of the ride and what He’s made.

How about you ? Do you coast as life is going well and things seem to be okay?

What do you do when the hills, rain, and mountains come?

Here’s a couple of things to do:

1-Run to the Father. He is waiting with open arms for you to call on Him.

2- Ask the Lord to reveal what you are to be learning during the trial.

Lord, thank you for your faithfulness to us. We know we can trust you to take care of us in any situation or on any journey. We thank you that you have our best interests at heart as we walk through life hand in hand.