The Long Haul

I did a long haul this past week.

My daughter Jordan and I drove 1650 kilometers round trip, Surrey to Banff and back – left Wednesday morning and arrived home Friday night. For those who are not familiar with the geography in this part of the world, the entire trip is heavy duty mountain driving . . . the pay-attention-or-else kind of driving.

Why did we do this, you ask? We attended a conference in Banff, and even had time to shop and do a bit of sight-seeing. All of that was most excellent, but not the reason for this blog post.

As I drove, 9.5 hours to get there, and 9.25 hours to get back, I had lots of time to think. No, I wasn’t speeding. But I was watching the road. Every second.

The highway between Surrey and Banff is anything but straight, and is quite narrow in places. There are hairpin turns, steep grades, and lots of potholes. The road leads you up high mountains and down into peaceful valleys. And the traffic! Cars, trucks, motor homes, 18-wheelers – the meandering Sunday drivers and the Nascar qualifiers. I could do without the distractions.

This is life. The long haul.

The curves, the mountains, the valleys, the distractions of other drivers on the road – how do we stay out of the ditches with all of that?

We pay attention and obey the Word of God. We fix our eyes on the road, keeping our focus on Jesus Christ. Every second. We aren’t the Sunday drivers who like to take their time driving, dwelling on every little unimportant thing along the way and veering off onto the shoulders or over the yellow line in the process. And we don’t speed ahead like the Nascar drivers, missing important signs and intersections that show us where to go. Instead, we wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit, who will warn us of danger and point us in the right direction. We move ahead in faith, knowing that our God loves us and provides everything we need for the journey.

I’m in for the long haul. My eyes are glued to the road, and I will not hit the ditch!