ROADBLOCKS AND BUMPY JOURNEYS

For the past couple years they have been chewing up downtown replacing old pipes and fixing whatever else has been lying under there. 

It makes for a messy commute to work! I can still bike through but it's kinda like going through an obstacle course and driving is out of the question. 

Sometimes, life is like that. You are cruising along when out of the blue your path ahead is blocked, even downright dangerous. You need to find either a way through it or take an alternate route. 

These roadblocks happen to everyone: illness, death, letting something (or someone) go, letting something (or someone) in, failures and consequences from our own mistakes. 

Being a music lover, I love the encouragement and the honesty in Psalms. When the road ahead is looking dicey I can echo King David's heartfelt request: 

"You are my rock, my rampart; true to your name, lead me and guide me!" Psalm 31:3. 

I figure He has a better view than I do of what lies ahead.

Really in a jam? David penned this in Psalm 18: 

"I called to Yahweh in my anguish, I cried for help to my God; from his Temple He heard my voice, my cry came to His ears." I can picture God turning His head and looking down at His child who is in peril. "Then the earth quaked and rocked, the mountains foundations shuddered, they quaked at his blazing anger." Look out...Daddy is coming and He's not happy! "He reached down from on high, snatched me up, pulled me from the watery depths, rescued me from my mighty foe, from my enemies who were stronger than I." 

It's encouraging to read this an know there is a force way more powerful then I, ready to come to my aid. 

But sometimes the road blocks don't seem to dissolve, the path gets darker and rougher and there is nobody coming to help. 

Almost all Psalms end on a positive and hopeful note, that God will come through. But Psalm 88 is honest enough to point out we don't always feel that way:

But, for my part, I cry to you Yahweh, every morning my prayer comes before you; why, Yahweh, do you rebuff me, turn your face away from me?  vs 13 & 14.

He ends his lament: You have deprived me of friends and companions, and all that I know is the dark.

They didn't have to put this song in there, they could have left it out. But scripture is brutally honest about the human experience.

If you are presently looking at a roadblock or the path ahead is unclear, I understand. King David understands. God understands. I pray you find your way through. 

Much Love!