LET'S SLOW DOWN FOR LIFE'S BUMPS IN THE ROAD

Life’s bumps can be jarring. Time-robbing. Miserable. When God speaks in His Word about waiting on the Lord, I believe He has our life-bumps in mind. So…let’s slow down and look at the bumps from His perspective.

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVES        by Sally Bair

Bumps in the road

The Alaska-Canada (Alcan) highway that runs 1,671 miles long through parts of  British Columbia, the Yukon Territory and Alaska, is noted for its bumps. Built quickly in 1942 as a WWII effort after the Japanese invaded one of the Aleutian Islands, the Alcan follows rivers, winds through swamps and cuts through huge mountains. At first a narrow, precarious road of gravel, it since has been paved. Every year it must be repaired in spots—widened, filled in or just plain fixed. Due to harsh winters, frost bumps keep emerging in many places for mile after mile after mile, without respite.

Traveling the Alcan can be a challenge to the head, stomach and nerves. My family and I became miserable and frustrated from the many slow hours traveling over a particularly bumpy, long stretch of road. But we discovered our slower pace meant seeing more wildlife. We saw many more elk, caribou, moose, bears, red fox, coyotes and bald eagles than we would have at our previous, higher speed.

We often encounter bumps in the road of our lives, too. Some are big bumps. Others are little ones that keep resurfacing, like driving through rush hour traffic every day. The little bumps are the ones that shorten tempers and cause ulcers. James 1:19-20 has good advice about this. "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." The operative word in this verse, I believe, is "slow." If we slow down, the bumps will be easier on our bodies, our minds and our spirits.

Lord, forgive us when we let the bumps in our lives cause us to react negatively. Help us deal with each bump as it comes so we will slow down and enjoy You and Your gifts in the midst of the bumpy road of life. In Jesus' name, amen.