I’ve spent much of the last two weeks driving.  I set out two weeks ago, to drive to my great uncle Bo’s memorial service down in Homer, LA. This journey was about 4 hours, then from there, I cut across North Louisiana taking backroads from Homer to Texarkana, to eat dinner with a close friend and his family.   Following dinner, back on the road to our family cabin in South Arkansas.   

 

If you are like me, (which most of you are not) and use a Samsung, you are probably all too familiar with Google Maps, and it’s insane ability to change course midway through a trip, because it found a faster way.  Over the years, it has become a joke with our family as one evening between Hot Springs and Russellville, I literally found myself driving the family minivan through a creek close to midnight in the middle of nowhere, all in the name of the fastest route.   One morning leaving Florida, with my wife following me in the other vehicle, I followed the directions and we wound up driving 2 hours along back roads through North Florida and Southern Alabama, perhaps to save 20 minutes according to Google Maps.  Stacy is usually not that impressed with me, when I use Google Maps.  Even if I save time.  

 

Along this road from North Louisiana to Texarkana, it was beautiful. Not a car in sight, a few tractors, I was privy with a full tank of gas, and wasn’t that concerned with it, because I was by myself and knew where I was going.  There is a certain amount of freedom that we feel when we are faced with open roads.  Along this drive, I was able to reminisce the first day I left my parents driveway in my shiny red Jeep Cherokee, I could turn left out of the driveway or right. I still remember what CD I put into the CD player as I drove to school, it was a Green Day CD, that I probably wouldn’t have been playing if my dad had been sitting with me in the front seat.  

 

My first trip out of town, was driving the two hours to our cabin at the age of 16, a road that I’d traveled for years, but now I felt freedom.  Even though, the roads that I was traveling were still mapped out by other people to still tell me where I was going.   There is just something invigorating about the open road. My parents let me, and 3 buddies load up that Cherokee and drive to Panama City the day after graduation at 17 YEARS OLD!  My papaw gave me a Readers Digest Map, that I still have in my office today that serves as a reminder of the Open Road that we all love.  

 

Roads are often described as where they are leading to, in our hometown of Magnolia, we had the El Dorado Hwy and the Old El Dorado Hwy.  It didn’t take a genius to figure out where you were headed if you turned onto that road.  I thought about this as I drove through Louisiana, b/c I had never seen this road, but I knew where I was headed.  I still to this day, will hop on my Motorcycle and put my playlist on, and I have a loop about 35 miles around our city and county.  While on my bike, it’s just me often mindlessly worshipping, as I enjoy riding down country roads and seeing the sights.  

 

Hollywood has tapped into this vibe, with classics such as Thelma & Luise, Stand by Me, Goonies, Cars, Smoky and the Bandit, and Good Will Hunting, all movies that involve journeys and people in pursuit of something and it’s the journey along the way that we see the characters develop.   It’s not ending that makes them who they are, but it’s the journey along the way.  

 

I think about the Life of Joseph in scripture, he was a man that heard the voice of the Lord as a young boy, and then one day he sets out on the road with his brothers.  These brothers would sell him into slavery, the road he was on wasn’t the slavery road, that wasn’t his identity, it was just part of his story.  From Slavery, he would move into prison after being wrongfully accused.   He wasn’t on the Prison Road, that wasn’t his identity, it was just part of his story.   From Prison he is elevated to leader, and it says they changed his robes, cut his hair, and he became in command.  This still wasn’t his identity, it was just part of his story.    The clothes and hair didn’t make him who he was, just as our titles or promotions don’t make us who we are today.  Joseph knew his identity, because the father had already spoken it to him as a young boy.  That could never be taken away from him.   It was however, how Joseph reacted on these various roads, that built his trust in the Lord, and made him exactly who he was.  

 

The writer in Psalms 119 writes “Thy word is lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”.   It’s almost as if the writer knows that God wants us to simply trust him for the steps we take individually, a lamp unto our feet, trust me with this step.   He isn’t always going to show you what’s ahead down that road, he wants you to trust him with just one step at a time. The road will change, it may be bumpy, you may go through a creek, you may wind up taking a detour, there may be construction, but the destination will never change.  

 

I mentioned earlier the El Dorado Hwy in my hometown.  If you lived in Magnolia, this was the name of it, if you drove 35 miles you came into El Dorado.  I’m sure if you lived in El Dorado, you didn’t call it the same thing. You probably called it the Magnolia Hwy, symbolizing that it was a road leading from El Dorado to Magnolia.   The thing about roads, is they are always leading towards something. There’s freedom on that road, to an extent, drive the speed you want to drive within the limits set forth by the legal system, you can roll your windows down, play music, listen to a podcast, but regardless you are still driving towards something a destination.   

 

When people look at roads, it’s usually a destination that they are headed to.  Just the same though, as easily as you enter the road headed to somewhere, you will always be headed from somewhere just the same.   That same road in my hometown that was known as the El Dorado Hwy on the east side of town, was also known as the Texarkana Hwy on the West side.   Either way you went, you were leaving one place and headed to the new.  Life will always be a journey.  Some days it may be the new freedom of a first time driver, others may feel like a travel ball parent that drives hours every weekend to watch their kid play a game, some nights may end up taking you through a creek, other nights you may end up driving through unknown country roads, while your wife looks nervously at you, and teases you about your Samsung and Google Maps issues.    Regardless, keep Christ, Keep the Word as the Lamp unto your feet, and the light unto the path, and you will get there eventually.   Leaving the comfort of the last stop to pursue the destiny in the next, all while being obedient to the Father that calls all of us into this great big journey with him.   

 

Your road will never define you, or where you are at in the road, it’s only the Father at the end of the day who calls you by name. All of us are on the road, experiencing our freedoms. What is the last thing that God called you to do? Are you on that road? Are you headed towards something or away from something?  Saul was on the road to Damascus, when he had a radical encounter with the Father. This encounter would change the trajectory of the Christian Faith. Jesus wants to walk with you on this road, just as he did on the Road to Emmaus. 

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Be Bold and Be Encouraged.