Around the Bend
Isaiah 43

Ann and I recently drove down to Columbus on a Saturday afternoon to watch our son’s basketball game.  I fired up the GPS and we hit the road. Midway through our trip, we ended up on some county road outside of Ashland that was unfamiliar to say the least. It was a hilly, winding route which had many sharp twists and turns. The roads were clear enough in the light of day, and it was spitting snow, still ‘no worries!’

We grabbed a burger, took in the game and afterwards, sent Andrew away on the bus back to school with a care package. We stepped outside the gym and were greeted with a couple inches of new snow as the snowflakes fell softly to the ground, still ‘no worries!’

Long story short; as we made our way back home on the interstate, the snow really began to fall, and the further north we drove the heavier it came down! By now it was getting dark as we made our way off the interstate and on to the county road. It was bad and what traffic was on the road moved at a slippery crawl and it soon became a white knuckler when we came upon the twists, bends and turns in the heavily snow covered road. What, me worry? You bet—we began to pray.

As we came upon the twists and turns in the road, we couldn’t see which way to go beyond the bend. It was a scary, lonely ride as our headlights tried to cut through the falling snow. Yet, here is where something ‘peculiar’ began to happen… once we went around every bend, through the storm, there was enough light from a house, or a barn and even a few street lights at intersections that would be a comfort for us and help us navigate our journey home.

Read the word of the Lord from Isaiah 43: "Fear not for I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze." You know what the Lord's talking about here? He's talking about the bends in the road like Ann and I experienced. It's those places where there's nobody there but Him.

I like how the passage is rendered in this contemporary translation: But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place… the One who got you started… “Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine. When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end—Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior.”

Now, our life journey at times, is not unlike a white knuckle ride on a twisting, turning road. We can’t see beyond the bend. Yet, at each major phase of our journey, God puts a strategic light—usually a person or people in our path. In a sense, God will put flesh and blood representatives of His love right there when you need someone. And you can think back to who some of those people have been, right?

As we’ve entered each new chapter and rounded each bend, there waiting for us has been God's person for that episode in our life. But then there are the bends in the road at times where there's no one there. The Bible talks about passing through the river, and the fire, and the waters. And for a time, we are without a support person. Sometimes as we hit the bend in the road, all we have is Jesus. You might be in such a bend right now, and there's no one who seems to be there for you. Or they would be, but they just can't meet your need right now. Well, listen to His promise again. He has said all through the waters, and the fire, "I will be with you. I am the Lord your God."

Sometimes, the plan of God includes places where you will have no one but Him. Why is that? So you can experience life's greatest security of all. See, you never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you've got. And you know where you discover that? At the scary, lonely, and precious bends in the road.

Around the bend,
Art