One thing is for certain, you do not want to find yourself stuck in the middle of the road. Picture yourself attempting to cross a busy interstate and just about the time you make it halfway across the traffic from both directions is so thick that you are literally stuck right there in the middle of the road. Never a good place to be, the potential for disaster is definitely on the high end of that spectrum. In our spiritual walk we face that same dilemma, will we traverse on the "right" side of the road, the wrong side of the tracks, or do we attempt to straddle the middle of the road? Where we choose to walk on a highway has implications that can impact our health and well-being, but where we choose to walk in life has eternal implications for ourselves and others that we love and serve.
So, in literal terms, it is pretty easy to determine if you are walking in the right place on a road or highway. Those little white lines marking the lanes on the road let us know that outside of those lines is definitely the safest area to be walking. Most definitely, the double white lines that divide traffic going east and west would qualify as the worst place to be spending your time walking down a road. But, how do we determine where is the safest place to walk in our relationship with God? That question can be answered in the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 6:5 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." I believe that is pretty plain in determining where our feet need to be traversing as we walk in our relationship with the God. Love God with all our heart, our soul, and our strength, in other words be all in, there is no room to get stuck in the middle, and we certainly do not want to find ourselves on the other end of that pendulum!
Most likely it would be a safe wager to say that if asked most people would say they believe in God and that they believe in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of God's son Jesus. Yet, does that alone mean we are walking with God? Well according to James 2:19 just believing may not get us in the safe lane on life's highway, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." In other words, just believing in God doesn't necessarily mean we are walking with God. When everything is good and all systems are full steam ahead, it is easy to say yes, we believe and of course we walk with God, but as we all know, life isn't just a straight interstate that we travel. Curves, bumps, road hazards, and traffic make driving, let alone walking, a challenge on the highways we travel. The same is true in life, we will face adversity and we will have to endure affliction, who do we walk with during those seasons of life?
This is figuratively where the "rubber hits the road", do we turn to God in life's challenging situations and trust that He has a plan and it is our job to seek out God's will and then stay steadfast in our walk with Him? Or do we start questioning God when life happens? Health issues, financial matters, relational struggles, work problems, or even death in our families happen, who do we turn to in times of need? Do we even call out to God when affliction occurs? Is our life one that when things are good we confidently say "I follow God, I trust in His infinite wisdom, and I know He has a plan"? But, when the traffic gets thick on our life's highway, do we want to slide towards the middle of the road and begin to question why a God that loves me so much would allow my life to be affected in such a negative manner?
Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight". If we trust in God, then we walk with God, good or bad, easy or tough, smooth or rough we walk with God. In the Book of Revelations, we are told that God knows whether we are hot or cold, and if we are lukewarm we aren't walking with Him, stuck in the middle. I'll conclude today's message with this declaration from Joshua. After Joshua became the leader of the Hebrew people, he faced many of the same challenges that his predecessor Moses had dealt with during their 40-year trek through the wilderness. Joshua made the decision to walk with God and he made no secrets about that decision. "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15. All in, walking with God, regardless of the circumstances or conditions of life we too must choose where we will walk. No longer stuck in the middle, choose to walk fully with God!
Coach Carter
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