Ocean Waves & Railroad Tracks

Many years ago, I stood on a sand dune overlooking the ocean underneath a full moon with a friend, watching the tide of the Atlantic roll to shore. In the silence of the moment, I quietly said that every person's life was like those waves - we don't always know from where they originate, we only know where they finish when they come to us; but in the process each individual wave touches so many others, just as our lives touch many others and some we don't even know we have touched.

Another analogy that is often used for a person's life is that it is similar to waves; a good one comes in and in a little while, a bad wave comes in and we deal with both as they come.
But this is simply not true.

Life is less like waves crashing a seashore and more like railroad tracks - good and difficult things run side-by-side in our lives constantly, which effect us in various ways continually.
For example, the obvious over-arching issue in my life is cancer; but good, joyous things continue to happen in other areas of my life. This weekend, my son killed his first deer - it was a goal of mine to see this take place and due to a special doe season to help reduce the deer population in this state, I was able to be there and help him do it.

Photo taken by F. Howerton; private farm, Medina, WV - Jackson County

During this time, I fully realized that this may be my last hunting trip or I could have many more in future years. Both are possible and both are on either side of those continual railroad tracks that run through each of our lives.

Also this weekend, on Sunday, I may have preached the last sermon I'll preach for a while due to upcoming medical treatments. It was also 'Pastor Appreciation Day.' The church was packed and it was truly a wonderful day - and the railroad tracks continue because today I'm headed back to the doctor's office.

The railroad tracks of life are simply this - God's wonderful, abundant grace on one; on the other - man's fallen world. Both effect us daily. And with both, each person must decide daily, hourly and sometimes by the minute which of these their thoughts and attention will focus upon.
The truth is that you can find in life whatever you wish to find; if you want to be unhappy or grumpy, there are certainly plenty of reasons you can find. But if you choose to be happy, joyful and rest in His grace and peace - you will be able to do that as well because the joys of life, even in the darkest times, are abundantly present.

Thank God that life is not like the waves of the ocean - we, as humans, would be in a constant roller coaster of emotional carnage. Strangely, some choose to live as if life is an uncertain sea during a storm ignoring the Rock of stability and strength; the One who calms the storms of life or calms His child in the storm that he may endure and be found faithful.

While questioning Jesus privately, Jesus spoke to Pilate concerning 'the truth.' As Pilate walked away to declare Him innocent before the crowds, he asked Jesus, 'What is truth?' Yet, Pilate did not wait to receive the answer. I want to share a truth that is found in the Book of Truth:

Romans 9:16

'...It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.'

As things happen in your life, both good and bad as your personal railroad tracks in your life continue to go forward; remember that it is God who has mercy and if you trust Him, He will guide you to Himself. Sometimes God allows us to go through horrible situations, like cancer, taking away the flash of the world from our lives, only to allow us to see clearly with the eyes of faith and to give us more of Himself.

The railroad which owns the tracks of our lives is the T&O Express - Trust and Obey. If you trust Jesus in your life and seek to obey His commands in and through your life, I can promise you on the authority of God's Word - regardless of what you go through, you will find His grace and mercy abundant and more than enough to guide you home.

Until next time, try to win one for the good guys.