Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
Jan. 20, 2012

“Road-Trip!”
“Dear friend…with Clear Thinking and Common Sense…You’ll travel safely, you’ll neither tire nor trip…" – Proverbs 3:21, 23 (MSG)

Age has done something to me that I have been long to admit – I cannot do what I used to do without something hurting later! Ouch! That even hurts. When I was in college I would travel home without giving any thought to the fact that I lived almost 800 miles away a second thought. I would drive and drive and drive – and I would not tire because I was “driven” with the hope that I would be home soon. Not so any more. I almost shudder thinking about having to travel for just a couple of hours – let alone all day!
The same thing goes with playing sports. Even up to ten years ago, playing basketball for a couple of hours did little to prevent me from considering the consequences of what I would feel like a few hours later. Not so any more. I hurt now just thinking about what a couple of hours of playing basketball or tennis would do to my back or legs. Have you seen the recent commercials that talk about how much energy you have during the afternoons? The premise of course is the attempt to sell a product that is supposed to help get you through the afternoon and much like that commercial I see so many people who are just “dragging” through life. Each step makes it look like they are pulling a ball and chain – and maybe it is because – THEY ARE! They are dragging their cares, burdens, sorrows, anxieties, failures, and anger behind them and with them everywhere they go. Of course they are tired, they were not meant to live that way.
I may not physically be able to do what I used to do—travel as care-free as I once did—but I do not have to let life drag me to the point where I no longer enjoy the life God has given me to live.
I have also learned something else—not to take on more than I can handle at one time. Be a bit more deliberate and purpose driven! A professor was invited to speak at a military base and was met at the airport by an unforgettable soldier named Ralph. As they headed toward the baggage claim area, Ralph kept disappearing: Once to help an older woman with her suitcase: Once to lift two toddlers so they could see Santa Claus; and again to give someone directions. Each time he came back smiling. "Where did you learn to live like this?" the professor asked. "During the war," said Ralph. Then he told the professor about his duties in Vietnam. His job was to clear mine-fields, and he saw friends meet untimely ends, one after another, before his eyes. "I learned to live between steps,” he said. "I never knew whether the next one would be my last, so I had to get between picking up my foot and putting it down again. Every successful step felt like a whole new world."
Clear Thinking and Common sense says – “Let God do the driving!” He knows the way far better than I. It also lets me know that I do not have to bear my burdens alone—that He is willing to carry them with me and at times, for me! And that way, I won’t be tired when I get to my next destination.
Pastor J. T. Carnell