Have you ever had to drive in inclement weather? Last night I had to drive home in the rain. It really wasn’t what I would classify as inclement weather, but as I drove I found myself reflecting on a time not too long ago when I did drive in snow and ice.
I was supposed to be the opening speaker for a women’s conference in Woodstock, Georgia. The weather forecasters were calling for one of the worst snow and ice storms we’d had in some time. It started snowing by late afternoon with no signs of stopping. The conference had sold out and there was a waiting list of women wanting to attend. I couldn’t bail out. I prayed about it and felt a strong “go” in my heart. As my friend and I climbed in the car, I kept thinking back to when my daddy taught me how to drive in snow and ice. “Take is slow and steady, stay on course and you’ll be fine.” The thirty minute drive took well over an hour and a half to make, but we made it. We passed multiple cars in the ditch and car accidents along the way. Some of the cars we saw in the ditch were people who had carelessly flown past us, with no regard for the conditions of the road. We drove slow; we drove steady; and we stayed the course and made it to our destination.
The Christian life isn’t smooth sailing. Nowhere in Scripture does the Lord promise easy living for those who believe. In fact, He tells us we’ll have trouble [John 16:33]. We can’t let a little trouble scare us from what God promises us. He promises us abundant life [John 10:10]. The pathway to the abundant life may be difficult, even traitorous at times, but we cannot give up. We must take it inch by inch, mile by mile until we reach our destination.
Just like Nehemiah had nay-sayers coming to him trying to discourage him and derail him, some of the obstacles we encounter may actually be people [Nehemiah 4, 6]. We need to keep our focus on the goal before us and reply as he did in Nehemiah 6:3 “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” The enemy will do anything and everything in his power to stop us from doing what God calls us to do and when he does, we have a choice to make. We can either allow him to distract us and take us off the path or we can refuse him, like Nehemiah, and stay the course until we reach victory. What’s it going to be? Sway or stay?