We're All Just Along For The Ride

Troy Conrad
Troy Conrad

God wants us to put together as much of life's puzzle as we can and then trust Him with the missing pieces.

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Jeremiah 33:3

Once when the boys were little we were all driving to go see a movie on a Sunday afternoon. The boys were all excited. It was a movie they'd been wanting to go see for a while.

While we were driving, my middle son saw a familiar landmark on the road. "Oh! I've been there!" he exclaimed. Then he started talking about how much fun he had rollerskating. Problem was, it wasn't the rollerskating rink.

"Are you sure that's the place?" I asked.

"Yep. That's it." He definitively replied. "They had a counter with all these skates and a big glass booth with a whole bunch of money inside that when you turned it on you could catch the dollars floating in the air."

"I think you're lost as a goose," I chuckled back.

That got us started on exactly where in town we were at. I quizzed all three of the boys and all of them thought we were on the south side of town. We were actually on the north side.

I chuckled really loudly and jokingly told them, "You've got no idea where we're going. We're not going to the movies, we're going to the spinach factory!"

They didn't find that too funny.

Then my oldest son, who really wanted to go see the movie, asked me, "Do we need to know where we're going, Dad? I thought you always knew that."

Erg. Well played oldest son. Well played.

I was getting a kick out of them being lost when the whole time it didn't matter to them, they were just along for the ride. Because they knew I wasn't lost. And because they knew that they had no worries. They could look at buildings and think that they're skating rinks or ice cream shops or fun houses.

Too often in our own lives we do the same thing. We are too focused on where we're at and what we're supposed to be doing. We think that we're in charge of where we're going and know exactly where we've been. But in reality, we're all just a little bit lost in life. We can't plan out what we'll be doing tomorrow. Oh we can try. But there's no guarantee the plans will work. We can proclaim that we're the masters of our own destiny, but soon we'll be wondering why things didn't go the way we had hoped.

Once we really come to understand that we're just along for the ride, the sooner we can understand that our God directs our lives where we really need to be. And for that we should give thanks because if it was just up to us, we'd all probably end up at the spinach factory.

Let us pray.

Our great God. We thank you that you have shown us a new way in which to live. A way in which we put our total trust in you. This day we ask that you'll direct us along the pathways of salvation and help us to see your grace in our lives. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

PASTOR TROY CONRAD IS MINISTER OF THE FARMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH.

Religion on 04/08/2015