In 1854 Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” (No, I wasn’t alive then).  Years later, in our time, Bob Seger described this phenomenon in “Running Against the Wind.”

These individuals both are describing life as a hard pull which doesn’t get easier with time. Bob sings, “I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.” Fortunately, we can’t forget those events that we wish never happened, because they help keep us between the shores as we journey to our destination.

The Bible describes this thought as follows:

Psalm 39:4

“Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am.

Life is short and stuff does add up, but in the economy of God “all things can work together for good” Romans 8:28.

Think about it.

Gary

There’s an account of Israel’s journey out of Egypt when they were trapped between the most powerful army on earth and the Red Sea. You talk about being in a real pickle; that was one. The Germans would say they were in deep kimchi.

I’ve never experienced that kind of terror and apprehension in such an insurmountable situation, but I had many a mess where I cried out to God. Do you know that God says the same thing to me as He did to Moses?

Let me put it in the contemporary Gardner vernacular of Bible interpretation. “Get off your can, quit crying and move forward.”

Exodus 14:15

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.”

I like a story with a good ending. You know from having read Exodus, this had a good ending.

Think about it.

Gary

“You Gave Me a Mountain” (sometimes credited as “Lord, You Gave Me a Mountain”) is a song written by country singer-songwriter Marty Robbins during the 1960’s. I only heard it sung by Johnny Cash.

It was about an individual who never had a break in life and he said as much to God. I acknowledge that God does give us mountains but never one that can’t be climbed.

Caleb was promised a mountain full of opposition by God, but that didn’t deter Caleb from asking Joshua for it when the time came.

Joshua 14:12

Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.”

The problem is never the mountain or the opposition; it is the fact we just don’t want to climb it.

Give it some thought.

Gary

My grandson came home for three weeks last summer.  Good friends of ours lent us their side by side to tour the trails of northern Maine. (He drove.) Being a seventeen-year-old, he wanted to try the limits of this recreational vehicle made for rough country. I had to hold the reigns tightly because it was borrowed. Had that machine belonged to me, I wouldn’t have cared if he wrecked it, as long as neither one of us had been hurt.

Borrowing something brings with it tremendous responsibility as can be seen with the account of the borrowed ax in Scripture:

2 Kings 6:5

But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.”

My very farsighted offspring suggested that next year we would buy our own ATV, so grandfather wouldn’t have to talk like Miss Daisy.

Think about it.

Gary

I was a three-year-old and my fifteen-year-old sister lifted me unto the seat of the pickup to travel to the local store. A kid could stand up in a vehicle in those days before car seats or even seatbelts were required.  She wasn’t going to take me in, which I didn’t much appreciate, but I’m sure she had her reasons.

Not long after she went in, a teenage boy came out, opened the door, lifted me out and placed me on his shoulders to bring me into the store. In those days a kid going into an establishment that had candy, chips and soda pop was like going to heaven.

I don’t remember any more than that about the experience.  It seems like a short time after that I was home alone with my mother and she was crying. The only thing I could comprehend was that the young boy who had been so good to me had died in a jeep accident. It was my first experience with the heartache of death involving someone you knew couldn’t be replaced.

There are two types of events that will leave a long-lasting impression on an individual’s mind. One is when someone has been kind to him or her and the other is when someone has not been kind.

There is a commandment given to us as Christians that carries as much weight as the Ten Commandments:

Ephesians 4:32

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Think about it.

Gary

The old hymn, “How Great Thou Art”, was composed by Carl Gustav Boberg, in Sweden (1885). The song had to do with considering creation and how it points to a powerful Creator.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Consider means think carefully about something, typically before making a decision.

Isaiah 42:4

This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:

This is a word we need to take seriously when it comes to the Creator. The window of opportunity in this endeavor is closing.

Think about it.

Gary

Trucking logs in the north Maine woods in the winter months can be hazardous.  I was fully loaded with hardwood logs destined for Canada when I approached a steep hill that wasn’t sanded. Almost to the top, the truck no longer had traction. Fortunately, I was able to hold it steady as I backed down, using my west coast mirrors. Looking it over, I decided to try climbing once again… bad decision. Almost to the top again, the truck decided it had had enough of me and developed a mind of its own. Halfway down, it decided to turn sideways and roll over.

You’re right. It was a big mess. Logs were strewn everywhere. That GMC was now resting on its side with the operator shaking in places he’d never shaken before.

The road of life has many hazards and one never knows what a day might bring forth. Beware when the load is heavy and it doesn’t look like you are going to have much traction.

Proverbs 15:24

The road of the godly leads upward, leaving hell behind.

Look it over well; make an educated decision based on the Word of God, and like a trucker would say, “Keep the shiny side up.”

Think about it.

Gary