A Flat Tire..and a Winding Road

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."~ Marie Curie

I was alerted by a teacher yesterday that I had a flat tire. Somehow by the grace of God I made it all the way to school and a perfectly-placed nail brought the tire to rest on the pavement by the early part of the morning. With the help of the school's maintenance director, we changed to the temporary "donut" and I made plans to take the permanent tire to be patched after school.  The first lesson I learned is that there is no reason to get upset about things that are beyond my control. Flat tires will happen..and there is no reason to get mad, cry, or philosophize about them.  They only have to be changed. But the life lesson was not in the flat tire, but in the journey to fix it. 

I had to stay the entire day at the school to wait for the high school graduation that night at 7PM. I live too far away to drive home and back. But I needed my tire fixed so I decided to take it to get patched right after school. My first choice was a town about 18 miles away that I pass through every day.  There is a Walmart there  and various tire shops, so it was the obvious choice. However, a smaller town was about 9 miles away, although I had never been there except for passing through. So I had a choice: go with the obvious and familiar or take a chance on the unfamiliar. I chose the smaller town.

I asked for directions from a few teachers and headed off down the narrow highway toward my cutoff. I had never been on this road. After about a minute a wave of apprehension flowed through me…that surge of adrenaline and fear that comes from experiencing the unfamiliar. Why was I worried? At least three people had told me the directions (I should have trusted the first person since they live in the area). And yet my fear of the unknown brought me to a place of decision. I decided to keep going and, after a minute, the fear subsided and I felt a sense of trust and peace. I found the small town and the tire was fixed in no time flat (pun intended).

What was my biggest fear?  What was the worst that could happen? I realized that I am way too cautious with my life when it comes to the everyday trust that I need to live a stress-free life. I know God is in control and I know he is guiding me and leading me down that winding road. But do I trust that he is going to take care of my future?  Do I trust that he has the "directions"…even if I have never been there before? The truth is obvious…He DOES know the way. All I have to do is trust Him and follow. I also realized that the rush of adrenaline brought on by fear that I experienced can sometimes translate into excitement and anticipation instead of worry.

Is it naivety to trust the future and know that it will all work out? Or is it simply an expression of faith? Which brings me to a familiar verse that speaks to me in new ways as I contemplate the winding road: Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Every winding road has a destination.  May I enjoy the journey.