Articles
Who Is Really Going The Wrong Way?
There is a story told of an elderly couple, Bert and Annie, who lived on an old family farm, and were not much into technology. They had a television that was somewhat up to date, but that's about it. Their kids had tried for years to get them to carry a cell phone, but Bert just refused. "There ain't no phone call so important I can't wait till I get home to make" he would say.
As they aged, Bert and Annie finally decided maybe a cell phone would be good, especially when one of them was out after dark on the roads somewhere, since it's not as safe as it used to be, so they finally got one.
Bert left one afternoon to go fishing, and Annie insisted he take the phone for emergencies, since he would not get home till it was dark, and he agreed.
Annie prepared supper for one that night, and as she sat down to eat she switched on the TV. The news was live with a story about a driver going the wrong way on the freeway, and law enforcement and a helicopter were trying to get there before an accident occurred. When the reporter finally said it was Interstate 33 near the intersection of Highway 202, Annie grabbed the phone and called Bert. "Hello" Bert screamed into the phone excitedly! "Bert, you be careful out there, there is a car going the wrong way on Interstate 33!" Annie blurted out. Bert replied quickly, "Not just one, there's hundreds of em!"
You know, going the wrong way on the freeway at night is a disaster waiting to happen, and sadly, it does all too often. But as Christians, do we ever feel like Bert? Everybody else seems to be going the other way? Do we feel like a fish swimming upstream amongst our friends, co-workers, maybe even family members when we struggle to walk with God and nobody else seems to be trying?
The great Prophet Elijah found himself running for his life from Jezebel in 1 Kings 19, and was hiding in the desert. God provided food and drink for him to have strength, and he finally traveled 40 days to Mt Horeb. Sleeping in a cave that night, God came to him and asked what he was doing. Elijah replied (paraphrased) God, I have been working hard for You, the Israelites have rejected Your covenant, broken down Your alters and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too! The rest of that story is great and a sermon of its own, but Elijah was alone, or so he thought, swimming up stream, nobody else was going the direction he was.
God informed him though that some 7,000 of the nation had still not bowed down to the gods of the land, and that Elijah was not alone.
When we feel alone, we need to remember, we really are not. First of all, we have God, and ultimately, that's all we need. But God has other believers too, so that we will not be alone, and need not feel alone. When we come into Christ according to His teachings, Acts 2:47 says God adds us to His church, His family of believers. Maybe that's a group of 20, maybe 200, maybe 2000 where you live, but we are not alone, and God will never leave us that way.
For Bert, he needed to get off the highway and go the right direction. But for Christians trying to walk against the grain of society, to be holy and pleasing to God, to do His will, we need to keep on doing what we are doing, and like Elijah, trust in God to rescue us too. God still had work for Elijah to do, and undoubtedly He's not finished with us yet either since we are still here.
Jesus was very clear as He taught the crowds on the mountainside in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." If we ever feel like we are among only a hand full of people on earth still working to serve God, take comfort in that, because Jesus says only a few will stay on that narrow path that leads to eternal life with Him.
