On the Road Again (Sigh)

"And I took the one less traveled by..." 

from the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

 

Road trips.  You either hate them or you love them.  I married into a family that will go anywhere in a car, anytime, any distance.  They don't bat an eye at traveling cross country from Cali to New England to see the leaves change color.  And they always want to take the obscure routes less traveled (thank you Robert Frost).  They love road trips so much they start planning the next one during the current one. 

I, on the other hand, have moved road trips on my "Rating Spectrum for Travel" from 'loathe' to 'heavily avoid', just a few notches down from going into a public hot tub (but slightly above eating slimy okra).  Car sickness has been a constant travel companion of mine, along with Flaming Hot Cheetos, lattes and those chocolate covered acai things from Costco.  I can't say for sure whether car sickness comes before or after my snacks, as I eat constantly to avoid car sickness and car sickness makes me eat constantly.

We just recently returned from a road trip to southern California, and as we were coming through the gorgeous Glenwood Canyon I caught myself on my phone consumed by either how many miles til the next bathroom stop, how old Andy Griffith was in Matlock, or how many carbs were in the shake we just had for lunch.  In researching these life-altering critical tasks on my phone, I almost missed the unbelievable scenery of that amazing natural and architectural marvel.  

Google image

How many times do we get caught up in the mundane ridiculous details of our day and miss the marvelous that's right there?  Our heads are down, focused on the task at hand, the completion of ____, and we don't leave much room for stopping, breathing to take in God's Goodness and Providence for us right then and there.

If we died tomorrow would the little tasks we are fretting to complete even matter?  Sometimes in spite of our toiling we still feel little, unappreciated and unnoticed.  The world has a way of saying in all its brokenness that your life work was insignificant and menial.  (I'm still getting over the fact that I wasn't even replaced after I retired.)   

Thank our Lord that we are reminded our significance comes from Him and Him alone.  

What we do or not do should only concern us vertically- what does He think of us?  How do we respond to His forgiveness?  See how this woman did...

"When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to

the Pharisees house and reclined at the table.  A woman in that town who lived

a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisees house, so she came 

there with an alabaster jar of perfume.  As she stood behind Him at His feet

weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears.  Then she wiped them with

her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them." Luke 7:36-40

She was so grateful to Jesus for the forgiveness He had given her that she wanted to express that gratitude, even as the proud Pharisee was scoffing at her for thinking that she was unworthy.  

She. Didn't. Care.  This woman makes me remember that no matter what our sin is Jesus is always worthy of our gratitude, because He thinks we are worthy.  And yes, we all have sin in our lives.

The poor Pharisee - Jesus thought he was worthy enough too, but this man was making the mistake of missing the opportunity to see the marvelous works of the Lord in his own life because he was too arrogant to appreciate who Jesus was and listen to what He was saying.  

Today, he probably would have been on his phone, taking the 'road more traveled'.

✙ Dear Heavenly Father, make us pause to look at You and see You. You give us value and purpose.  Give our hearts ears so we can hear You through the flashy noise of this world.  Give us resolve to not care what the world thinks of us as we worship You, our Creator.  Help us encourage others to do the same.  Amen.