Every Journey hits a Major Curve in the Road

In a book that has meant much to us, the author has written these words: “We are a people who like straight lines. We want our careers to take a straight line from the bottom to the top, our relationships to move consistently from good to better, and our lifestyles to just keep improving. Yet that never happens. It is only a matter of time until every journey through life hits a major curve in the road” (An Extravagant Mercy, by M. Craig Barnes).

David Jeremiah, in his book entitled, A Bend in the Road–Experiencing God when your World Caves In speaks of having the same kind of cancer that David has. He was first treated in 1994 but then it reoccured in 1998 and he ended up with a Stem Cell Transplant. Now ten years later, David heard him speak in the Bay Area and he was running along on all eight cylinders. The book has been an encouragement to David as he has learned a little about what he would be facing in a matter of weeks.

For instance, in one section of the book, he writes under the subheading, Three o’clock in the morning that “At that darkest and most dismal of hours, there may be no silence deeper than the silence of a hospital corridor.” He writes, “During my stay at Green Hospital, (that’s a hospital in San Diego) I became closely acquainted with the time and the desolate feeling of it.” Then he tells about being on morphine and saying, “My reaction to the drug was a waking nightmare of confusion and disorientation. I could only manage short periods of sleep punctuated by sudden, startled consciousness—like being shaken violently awake. After this jarring sensation, I would be unsure where I was, what day it might be, or what was happening to me. That was the pattern of my life, moments of sleep, moments of confusion. It lasted for about five days that all blurred together like an unpleasant dream.” Then he said, “The nights were worst, of course, they were long and dark and lonely. I remember waking abruptly one night, looking around with grogginess at the bed and the darkened room, and doing the best I could to get my bearings. There was nothing on my mind, with the exception of a Scripture passage that seemed to be lingering in wait for me.” And the passage of scripture was Psalm 71 so he grabbed his Bible and the passage brought to him both comfort and assurance.

And if this happens to me in the middle of the night, David said that he may look at this psalm too, but he knows that his is going to read Psalm 121 where we read that God will provide safety for him during the terrors of the night and that God will never leave his side. To be sure, we will face a bend in the road, or a curve if you wish, but we know that God is always there with us and is our help. A poem that means much to us, that was sent by a good friend and former missionary Bill Lancaster who had cancer, goes this way:

Sometimes we come to life’s crossroads,
And we view what we think is the end.

But God has a much wider vision
And he knows that it’s only a bend—

The road will go on and get smoother
And after we’ve stopped for a rest,

The path that lies hidden beyond us
is often the path that is best.

So rest and relax and grow stronger,
Let go and let God share your load.

And have faith in a brighter tomorrow.
You’ve just come to a bend in the road.

Isn’t that great? We might think it’s the end, but it is only a bend in the road.