Neighborhood Makeover

I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband. I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone." The Enthroned continued, "Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate."

The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn't need sun or moon for light. God's Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth's kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won't be any night. (Revelation 21:1-5 & 21-25, The Message)

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Among the more interesting reality shows (at least in my book) are the ones dealing with a house or room or neighborhood receiving a makeover from professionals with an eye for design and detail. The one show where a house is picked for the full treatment but those around receive at least some cosmetic work is especially fun to watch. The little changes that are made so often have huge impacts on the way things look. And then all the neighbors come together for a party at the end of the work. Some might even call it inspiring.

As I write this particular entry, I'm in the middle of a remodel/facelift project myself. It's fairly ambitious, but I'm enjoying the challenge of seeing what I had envisioned come to life. But, as gratifying as it will be when I finish the project, it pales in comparison with the change God has in store for our future. You might even want to call it "Extreme Makeover - the Universe."

The Apostle John caught a glimpse of what is in store when the current clock "stops ticking" and God resets everything to a new state. I've used this passage previously, but recent studies and thoughts along these lines made it come quickly back to my mind. Unlike my remodel project, where some of the outcome is based on what already existed, God has promised to start fresh. It's all "new" which means, as I interpret it, that it didn't even exist before the events spoken of in Revelation 21. In that way, it is much more than just a makeover.

There is a restoration of relationship between the Creator and the created. All of the worst we've experienced will be erased from our memories and the Comforter will give comfort to us one final time as He wipes away all tears and replaces it with pure, unbridled joy. Never again will we know sadness or pain. It's all so distant that we won't recall it. Our focus will be turned to our Savior and that will be enough for us.

At the heart of the scene is the Center of our worship - the Living Temple Himself. Just think of it! We won't have to long for His presence or seek Him out ever again. He will be right there and we will surround Him in the most perfect relationship imaginable. He will be the Light that shines out among us and no darkness or shadow will ever again be found. No more waiting through the night, we'll have visibility of 100% without restriction.

And because there is no night, the gates of the city will never close. It dawned on me as I read this passage just how significant that fact is. Walled cities were a source of protection and gates always closed at night so they could be more easily guarded and the "unwelcome element" kept out. But in God's New City, there is no night, no fear, no darkness, and no reason at all to shut the gates - ever! It is the City of Eternal Peace - Salem, if you will - and we will feel completely at home for the very first time.

As I walk my own Crooked Path, I can take heart in knowing that, when it all finally ends, my Loving Father has a plan that will blow me away. It will be a makeover beyond all makeovers and He's designed it with me in mind. Thinking about it makes my mind race and my heart skip a beat.

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1. Have you ever thought about what comes next? How does your concept of it stack up against the Revelation 21 passage?
   
2. What does the idea of "created new" make you think of? Can you catch a glimpse of God's heart for us as this scene is unveiled?
   
3. What about the concept of the city pictured in the passage? Does a city of eternal peace sound out of reach, or does it sound like home?
   

A Backward Glance, a Forward Gaze

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Hebrews 11:8-10; Philippians 3:12-16, ESV)

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Perhaps you can capture the image of the high-stakes jockey turning the corner with the lead and glancing under his left arm to see where the competition is. Or maybe it's the vision of an Indy car driver, briefly glancing in the rear-view mirror (small as it is) to verify his position. Even the runner, making the slightest head turn during the curve of the track, looking to see who is following and how close they are. So many things we do and experience involve a glance behind. It's healthy in many cases and it is absolutely necessary so that you can gain or verify your bearings. But the glance behind is invariably brief. If it weren't, one would lose focus of what is really important.

The jockey knows he has to cross the finish wire first. The driver is pressing on to pass under that checkered flag. The runner has his heart set on being the only one to break that tape. And all of these things have a common thread - they involve a distinct forward gaze. After all, you have to see and know what is in front of you if you are going to achieve that prize.

When God called Abraham, he picked up and moved to a place he had never been. We have record of Abraham maintaining some ties with his former home, but they appear to be limited to the times he sent back for a wife for Isaac. You may recall that Jacob ended up back there as well - but that's another story. The significance here, as I read it from the account in Hebrews, is that Abraham trusted God to be there at the end of his journey. He believed God would provide that city, even if he had never seen it before. Sure, he may have glanced behind to remember where he came from, but it was that forward gaze that really defined him. His faith, as recalled in the passage above, drove him to obey on a completely different level.

Paul certainly had this scenario in mind when he wrote to the church at Philippi. He was exhorting them not to completely ignore what came before or where they had been, but to place their primary focus on what lies ahead. He called it a prize based on an "upward calling" from God. I know Paul didn't read C.S. Lewis, but I've got to believe the thought here is similar. The past does shape us, but it doesn't define us. What we are to be for eternity lies ahead and that's where we must turn our attention. With that type of vision, what we've come through will seem forgotten by comparison.

So what about the rest of us? We're not being called out to go someplace we didn't even know existed (though we may be called to go somewhere other than our current place). We're not a struggling first-century church (though we are definitely in the same battle). For the most part (and I can only speak for myself with any level of certainty or authority), we're comfortable ... perhaps too comfortable. Perhaps what we need is a good dose of the competitive drive that Paul mentions or the forward-looking determination that served as the core to Abraham's faith. Maybe I glance back too often or do so with a lingering gaze when my focus should be on what lies ahead.

As I travel my Crooked Path, I should remember where I came from and what I've been through. Those events, people, and places serve as a basis for who I am and why I think and react the way I do. But I can't forget to fix my eyes forward most of the time. My prize isn't behind me, it's out in front. As Larry Crabb once noted, we go through our life stumbling, picking ourselves up, and pressing on until one day we find ourselves Home with a Heavenly Father, who loves us more than anyone could, and a Divine Brother, who died for us and will embrace us ... and we will break into an eternal smile.

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1. Where is your focus most of the time? Is it behind you fixed on what is immediately around you?
   
2. If you can imagine being able to focus on what is ahead - your true prize - what would it do to you? How would it change the way you live?
   
3. Are you heading toward a city where God has laid the foundation, a prize from His "high calling"? In your vision, is there a Heavenly Father and a Divine Brother waiting to welcome you with open arms?

Dancing in the Puddles

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me for I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence. O my God, my soul is in despair within me; therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God my rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, while they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 42, NASB)

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"Hope dances in the puddles 'til the sun comes out again." It was the verse from an electronic card I sent to my sister. I sent it on the day that marks the fifth anniversary of the loss of her husband. The day after that marks eleven years since we laid my younger brother's baby boy to rest. Shortly, we will pass ten years since my brother Mike left us. And, as I've noted before, this season of remembrance was "kicked off" by recalling the loss of my father just over twenty-four years ago. So the tone of David's despair rings pretty close to my heart during these several weeks. My soul definitely feels disturbed and disquieted.

But true hope "dances in the puddles" even while it grieves. It asks the same questions as others do, but it rests firmly in the answer of the One Hope on which it is built. The pain and sorrow are real - no doubt about that; but the reality also rests in a deep trust that God will bring the sun out again and has a distinct purpose in the rain. That's the reason my family hopes and knows these relationships that have been cut short on this earth will be restored once we join our loved ones. And we "dance in the puddles" even when those puddles are created by our own tears.

As has been the case for the past several years, friends and family join my brother, his wife, and his son in providing shoeboxes filled with "hope" to the Operation Christmas Child project. This year, the people that run the program have made provision for coded labels that will allow us to track packages as they zip around the globe. And as those boxes are filled, shipped, and delivered, we will watch them and "dance in the puddles" instead of turn our grief inward.

David asked the questions of God, but in the end he knew that God had not forsaken him at any moment. He faced untold moments of despair when he was being chased by a multitude of enemies. But underneath this Psalm, David knew the Source of Hope would allow him to forge ahead. It wasn't always easy and it wasn't always immediate. In other words, there were often puddles in front of him. But I believe that David knew how to dance in them - and dance he did!

My travel on the Crooked Path will be filled with bends and curves, ups and downs, and rises and dips. It will rain, and that means there will be puddles. Some of them will be shallow and some fairly deep. Many will disappear quickly, but some will linger on. In each case, when the sky clouds over and I am tempted to despair, I will have a choice. I can either give in and wallow in my own self doubt, or I can kick off my shoes and "dance in the puddles." I hope that in the midst of my own grief, I can continue to choose to dance. The sun will return, you know. If not in this life, then in the next.

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1. Do you find yourself struggling under a weight of despair and difficulty? Do you find it hard to see the sun because your world always seems to be overcast?
   
2. Have you turned your worries and grief inward, rather than seeking for the Source of Hope and crying out to Him? Can you imagine the relief that is available if you could only do that?
   
3. Are you willing to "dance in the puddles" and trust God to see you through until the sun returns? What is your answer when He asks, "Do you trust me?"
   

Reflection

Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people.' But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.' Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people." And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth." So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name." And he said, "Please, show me Your glory." Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen." (Exodus 33:12-23, NKJV)

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Driving to a meeting tonight, I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I've observed in a while. The sun was below the horizon and the sky and clouds above it were layers upon layers of fiery pink, crimson, yellow, and orange. The gray-blue tops of the clouds, colored as the twilight added its own shadow, made the scene even more spectacular. As I drove, I thought about the make-up of the sunset and the timing of what I was seeing. It would not have looked like it did just 30-40 minutes earlier. At that point, the sun would still have been above the horizon and the colors would not have been nearly that brilliant. Not to mention the damage one can do staring at the sun itself. No, it had to be just out of site to make the picture what it was.

Early during the long trek through the wilderness, God took Moses up on the mountain to give him specific instruction regarding how He wanted His nation run. Through the entire time (and even before that), God had repeatedly told Moses that He would be with him through everything. Moses had plenty of self-doubt (don't we all?), but God was patient with him. Here on the mountain, Moses makes another request ... he wants to see God's glory.

In so many words, God says, "You can't see it. It would kill you." But then God makes a provision for Moses to experience as much of His glory as he can bear and still live. God hides Moses in a corner, covers him up, and then passes by very close. At the last possible second, God removes His hand and Moses sees the reflective wonder of his Lord. And, I believe, much like the sunset I described, it was a completely wonderful sight. It was a sight he could never have experienced by looking at it dead-on. That would have fried him to a crisp! But seeing it as a reflection, with layer upon layer of color and texture and sheer majesty flowing behind the Almighty presented a sight so powerful, Moses glowed for days afterward. In fact, the Israelites pretty much demanded that he wear a veil over his face so they didn't hurt their eyes when they looked at him.

How much like our loving Father to provide Moses with a reflection of His glory and me with a vision of that sunset. Both of us were enriched by the experience, though I imagine Moses a little more so than I. Still, how many times to we try to find a direct line of sight to God and overlook the reflection He so graciously provides all around us? Certainly, when we cross over our own final horizon, we will see God in His glory and will be well-equipped to do so. Until then, we need to look for His reflection in the people and things He has created.

As I travel my Crooked Path, I will have many opportunities to see the sunset or the sunrise or some other wonder. Simple beauty, the kind that truly reflects the character of the Creator is all around me. Perhaps I need to slow down at times and really look for it. Then when I'm tempted to say to God, "Show me your glory," I can stop myself and realize He already has. And through the vision of that reflected glory, I can mirror God to a lost and confused world all around me. After all, that is what He wants me to do.

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1. Are you looking around you for that reflective glory of our Father, or are you trying to see him head-on instead?
   
2. What will it take to make you content with God's answer and provision when you ask to see Him more clearly? Do you think you could withstand Him coming to you directly, or is it better to see His reflection?
   
3. Have you overlooked the simple beauty God provides all around you and the wonder it can bring to your life? Will you commit today to looking for it so you can reflect God back out to the world around you?
   

50-20 Vision

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said. But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:15-21, NIV)

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I've needed my vision corrected for most of my life. I've done glasses, contacts, had corrective surgery, and now am back in glasses again (no, the laser surgery is not permanent for most of us). There were times my correction actually took my vision to 20-15, meaning slightly sharper than the standard we all strive for. My optometrist told me that the people working on the upcoming rounds of laser surgery are seeking for the "perfect" curve which would allow eyes to achieve 20-10 correction. I believe that's the very bottom line on the chart which says "If you can read this you probably got up out of the chair and are squinting anyway."

Then there is the vision we all look for that we like to call "hindsight". It's always perfect, or at least we pretend it is. We look back and declare "if I only did this or that, then I would be in a different situation now." But how many times do we look back and try to find what God was doing that lead us to this current time and place. Oh, we all claim to have seen His handiwork from time to time, but it is probably pretty rare in our lives that we actually take rest after the most difficult times to say that God was right there all the time and had a plan to use us in a mighty way ... a way beyond what we could have possibly imagined.

And that leads us to the passage above and the thought of "50-20 vision" that I'm writing about. Thanks to one of my cyber-friends, Gary, for posting this on a social network site. It immediately prompted me to look to Genesis and find out just what type of 50-20 vision Joseph had. It was a familiar account, but in light of the way God has prompted me to think about His Bigger Story, I knew it meant so much more.

Jacob was dead. He had at least died happy in his old age, having been restored to his precious son, Joseph. The ten conniving brothers had been provided for in the middle of their own crisis by the very brother they had shipped off for the most meager price, all while concocting a lie to tell dear old dad that would impress the best fiction writers. And with dad gone, the boys were deathly afraid that Joseph would give them what they truly deserved. The human conscience will do that to you, even if you ignore it for most of your life. And so they craft one more little story to try and safeguard their future. Though the text doesn't explicitly say it, I think Joseph saw right through this ruse, just like he saw through most of what his brothers said and did. And he quickly turns the tables, based on his 50-20 vision (as in verse 20 from chapter 50).

"You meant to harm me, but God intended it for good." The words had to seer like a hot iron through their hearts. They stood guilty, judged, and convicted of their own deceit. And without bragging, Joseph almost thanks them, because it allowed him to be God's agent to save not only them, but multitudes in that region of the world. Then he went one step further and spoke "kindly" to them, reassuring them he would make sure they continued to live in peace and prosperity for the rest of their days. Joseph's acute vision saw God's hand in the past and trusted in God's plan for the future.

As I travel the Crooked Path, I can rest in complete confidence that God is at work through me and around me. He has a master plan that will be fulfilled and He invites me to be a part of it. He alone will correct my vision so that I can see Him and His work. 50-20 vision like Joseph had is achievable, but only when I turn the work over to God and look through His eyes. Thinking about it, it brings me a great sense of peace.

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1. How's your vision right now? Are you having trouble seeing what is right in front of you, or perhaps what lead to you being where you are?
   
2. Is it possible for you to get the same visual acuity that Joseph had, allowing you to see God working in you and through you?
   
3. Are you ready to be God's hands, feet, and eyes in your world? Are you ready to have an impact on others even if your life seems to be headed places you never intended to go?
   

Who Am I Really?

For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better.

For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. (Galatians 2:19-21; Philippians 1:20-22; Romans 8:16-18, NLT)

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I've never had amnesia, nor have I known somebody who has suffered with it. I can only imagine the frustrating and debilitating nature of the disorder. In its deepest (and most rare) form, the person loses almost all links to the past and is left continually asking, "Who am I really?" It's the stuff of fiction mostly, but I think you'll agree it portrays the ultimate identity crisis and none of us would willingly wish it on another person.

I have recently finished a book about person who sought all her brief adult life to answer that golden question, "Who am I really?" Richard Schmidt compiled what must have been reams of information and spent countless hours putting together the biography he titled Little Girl Blue. The story is familiar to many, though I'd never heard all the details Schmidt brings out. The book's cover is a picture done in a shaded blue tone of pop icon Karen Carpenter. A friend of mine (thanks Mike) and fellow Carpenters fan pointed me to the book and I knew I had to read this unvarnished account of her life.

As I finished reading it, I was struck by Karen's constant search for an identity other than the one thrust upon her by her family and the music industry. She finally exerted control over one thing in her life ... and it cost her dearly. She died from heart failure brought on by her own unintentional poisoning with ipecac. Her anorexia and bulimia, which she had once used to help structure her life, had claimed the very thing she sought to preserve. Her search for her own identity had been cut short - very short in deed.

Yet control and identity are things we often seek for ourselves. Though most of us don't go to the extreme that Karen Carpenter did, we still pursue our own answers to the question of "Who am I really?" We'll try most anything, or at least consider it, and then somehow be shocked when our feeble efforts fail and we end up right back where we started. You see, the search for self-reliance must always end this way. God never intended for us to be self-reliant at all. He wants us to find our identity in His provision of Christ and the finished work on the Cross. In fact, as Paul noted, we are to consider ourselves crucified with Christ and loudly proclaim that He is the only reason for living, as it is He who truly give Life.

What an excellent promise we can claim because our identity is bound up in Christ! We have been granted the position of joint heirs ... legally declared equal in status with our Divine Brother and inheritors that Divine Treasure without any reservation. In the mystery that is His vicarious death for us, we are afforded the opportunity to cast away our own sense of self-identification and take full stock in His identity as sons and daughters of the Holy One. Never again need we puzzle at the question "Who am I really?" The Answer was shouted out at Calvary and is ours for the asking.

As I travel my Crooked Path, I know that to have true identity and individuality means to give up my own ideal and cast everything I have and am in with Christ. In doing that, I can confidently say that I am an image-bearer of God and an eternal brother of the One who gave it all up for me. No more searching; no more uncertainty. My steps quicken and my heart fills with those thoughts. I am God's child ... pure and simple!

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1. Do you find yourself suffering an identity crisis? Have you somehow lost sight of the One in whom you will find your true self?
   
2. Have you grown tired of the constant struggle to prove yourself, the battle to assert your own will upon a difficult and cruel world? What would it feel like to rest from all that?
   
3. Does the concept of being the brother or sister of Christ somehow seem unreachable or foreign to you? What is it going to take for you to stop searching on your own and give it all over to your Divine Big Brother? He is more than capable of handling it, you know.
   

Searching for Help in All the Wrong Places

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD! (Isaiah 31:1, ESV)

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD. (Isaiah 31:1, NIV)

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD! (Isaiah 31:1, NASV)

What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help, trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers and depending on the strength of human armies instead of looking to the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 31:1, NLT)

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD! (Isaiah 31:1, NKJV)

Doom to those who go off to Egypt thinking that horses can help them, impressed by military mathematics, awed by sheer numbers of chariots and riders - and to The Holy of Israel, not even a glance, not so much as a prayer to God. (Isaiah 31:1, The Message)

How terrible it will be for those people who go down to Egypt for help. They think horses will save them. They think their many chariots and strong horsemen will save them. But they don't trust God, the Holy One of Israel, or ask the Lord for help. (Isaiah 31:1, NCV)

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Several years ago, when traveling home from a family trip, we had an incident with our camping trailer that sticks with me to this day. We were in the middle lane of the Interstate with a significant amount of traffic on either side of us. The lug studs on one trailer tire all sheared at once, causing the wheel and our vehicle/trailer tandem to go their separate ways. I can only attribute it to God that we were able to get over to the right lane, up an exit ramp, and stopped safely with no injury to us, no significant damage to the trailer, and no reports of the "dearly departed wheel" hitting anyone else. Oh, and it was a single-axle trailer, which made things all the more interesting.

Once we had regained whatever composure we could and tried to think about what to do next. We were due to stop soon, but without the trailer available to us, we'd need to make alternate plans. Part of what we did involved calling the insurance company who provided our trailer and road hazard insurance. After a series of calls, the representative arranged with a local towing company to come get our trailer - and it took two trucks to get the job done. Here, God also provided what I can only term a pair of "angels" in a couple who had the trailer deposited in their driveway, saw we found our way to a motel for the night, and repaired the wheel with the spare the next morning. Considering I never saw a bill from the towing company, we were only out the cost of the motel and a little more time than we planned on taking for that brief overnight stop.

This story came to mind as I thought of the single verse quoted in this entry. The verse was brought to my attention by someone who noted he had read it as the first verse of a daily passage and never gotten any further. The words had a huge impact on Tim, and he just couldn't continue. He shared the verse on a social media site and I began looking it up in multiple translations.

The meaning of the words - the near heart-breaking statement from God - hit home. Unlike the incident I described where I called the "appropriate" agency for assistance, we too often face life's trials without turning to God at the very first. Just like Israel when the Assyrians were knocking on their door, we look to Egypt because they appear strong, sleek, and well-positioned to help. And God weeps over His children who don't seek him, don't even give him a glance or a prayer.

As I travel this Crooked Path, I need to constantly remind myself that God wants to be my first resource. He has provided in so many ways at so many times and He is always ready to hear my plea for help. As I noted a few entries back, we have a Tireless Advocate. Our God never tires of us and will never turn us away. That's a comforting thought and very reassuring.

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1. Who or what do you turn to when you see trouble approaching? Or, in a more basic question that might require a deeper answer, who do you trust to provide for you?
   
2. Have you found yourself trying to work out your life by yourself, or planning some route of escape without consulting God? Can you imagine how God feels when you do that?
   
3. Will you make a fresh commitment now to seek God first, to give Him far more than just a passing glance? Can you trust Him to provide the rescue or relief you so desperately need?