There is a certain road near our home that has a huge bump in it. My children always beg me to go faster as we near the bump because they like the feeling of butterflies in their stomachs as we soar over it. Unfortunately, the bump is at an intersection with a stop light. So one must be cautious not to speed up too fast lest the light turn red.
We’ve all experienced bumps in the road on occasion, both literally as we drive about in our vehicles and also figuratively as we encounter difficult circumstances that come our way. We are going along our merry way and all of a sudden, “BUMP!” out of nowhere we are taken by surprise. “Where did THAT bump come from?” we may find ourselves wondering. The tricky thing about bumps is we don’t get to determine when they come. Of course, if we could, we would most likely desire to eliminate them altogether.
Bumps come in all shapes and sizes and I have come to realize that when one has a relationship with the Lord, bumps in the road, serve as opportunities to exercise our trust muscles. After all, if the road is only smooth, we rarely have need of anything, let alone learning to trust God completely. Recently I read an article by Charles Stanley in the June 2010 addition of “In Touch” magazine, a free resource available to anyone who requests it from www.intouch.org. In the article entitled, “Cease Striving and Know God,” Dr. Stanley quotes Psalm 46:11, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” He states, “How can you do this when things are falling apart all around you? To cease striving you must rest in the Lord. To rest, you must trust Him completely. And to trust, you must know Him.”
Bumps along the road are opportunities to get to know God better. They are opportunities to learn to trust Him completely. I think one of the most challenging things in our walk with the Lord is learning to fully trust Him. I think that is why Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Little children usually do not start out with a trust problem. They are dependent upon their caregivers and trust them completely to meet their every need. This is how we, as children of God, are to be with our Heavenly Father. It is difficult for us to do, because we’ve gotten used to depending on ourselves or others instead of God. Bumps in the road tend to shake us loose. When we come to the end of our resources and strength, then we are ready to fully surrender and allow God to truly set us free to walk on the heights as we learn to trust Him for everything.