The Long and Winding Road

I looked behind me and what I saw was a long and winding road; the path from there had brought me here—the road so winding I had lost sight of yesterday—for the latest bend in the road already had hidden it from view. Memories told me where I had been but many details were already lost. I know I could have gotten to where I was sooner if the road had been straighter. I also know I could see further behind me if the turns were not there. So why had God made my way so serpentine?

So I began to think, “Whose way has ever been point-by-point straight?” The Patriarch’s paths certainly were not. Follow Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through Genesis and you will find miles and years and troubles for the family God called to be the one carrying the promise, blessing, and seed of the Messiah. And then there was Joseph. He the favored son; sold into slavery, Potiphar’s household, unjustly thrown into prison, Pharaoh’s right hand man, still separated from family, and finally reunion with his father. Talk about a long and winding road. Moses was no different. Born to a Hebrew slave, raised in Pharaoh’s court, fled to the desert, called to be the deliver, forty years of wandering, sees the Promised Land, and yet is not permitted to enter. His road certainly was not flat and without turns. Then there is David. He went from the pasture to the battlefield; and then from being the king’s friend to being his enemy. He ascends the throne and has a quiver of sons; yet one son rapes his half-sister and another seeks his father’s overthrow and kingdom. David’s path was blessed but it also was an up and down turbulent ride.

I suspect if interviewed early in their lives, all of these saints would not have foreseen the road God was about to take them on. At the headwaters of their journey, they probably assumed fewer rapids along the way. But all of these men were so much more because of the up and down road God had for them; that is, so much more the man of faith because the highway didn’t stretch straight—rather, it was as crooked as could be.

When you don’t know where the next pot hole is, or when the next bend is in the road, you pay more attention to your Guide (God) and the map (Bible) He has provided. I’m convinced God doesn’t want us too confidently speeding down a road that resembles one in Montana; as flat and straight and as far as the eye can see. God would rather have us on a road more like a roller-coaster; with our white knuckled hands clinging to His—knowing another turn and loop is on its way.

This time I looked ahead, and I couldn’t see very far, either; for the road had another big bend. And I was OK with that; for the road behind me had been the same way. He had faithfully taken me from “there to here”; I know He will faithfully get me from “here to there.” And when the long and winding road reaches its end—I know this will be true—I will have reached my destination and it will prove to have been the very best way.