The unexpected journey:Mr. Toad’s Wild ride

The Disney franchise, both Disneyland and Disneyworld, had a ride—Disneyland’s is still open—called Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. There wasn’t much to the ride sitting in a two-person car carried along a track. What made the ride so unique was the fact that you didn’t know what to expect from the various twists and turns it took. I have often thought about that ride while being on this journey. There have been many unexpected things happen that look like certain doom, only to find an unexpected turn that turns things around. The start of 2016 has been like that. We seemed to have hit a smooth patch where things were flowing and blessings were coming. The end of January found us taking another unexpected turn that seemed to be blessing. This was followed by the most unexpected turn where our finances seemed to be completely shut down despite working 50+ hours each week. This past week was just plain odd. There is old hymn entitled Showers of Blessing. The chorus goes something like this, “Mercy drops ‘round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.” This is an accurate description of how the week went. There were all of these little “droplets” if you will of nice things that happened, but the end result was still a desperate shortage of financial blessing. One such droplet was this. I had an appointment to meet with a family that required me to drive about 30 miles. Because of the financial shortfall, I did not have the gas to go, which would mean I would have to cancel the appointment. At the last minute transportation was provided that allowed me to go. The result of the meeting was not favorable. Why would God do that? Or did God have anything at all to do with that? Could it be that it was simply a fluke? Is it possible that it was nothing more than the ebb & flow of life? I suppose the answer could be yes, but for me it would lessen the purpose of the godhead in my life. If my life is about my pulling myself up by my bootstraps, then what do I need a god for? If a god is only needed as an escape hatch from a very bad afterlife, then why all the fuss about being and dong the right thing? It was Job in the Old Testament that asked his wife this very important question when the news of their devastating misfortunes came; should we take only the good things from God? Should we not also endure the bad? I believe the answer is found in what we believe. If our life on this planet is the primary focus in life, then NO, we run from the bad with everything in us. If our life on this planet is in preparation for an eternal life, then perhaps it behooves us to embrace the bad—though having no understanding of why it is happening—in order to find the eternal purpose. It is crazy I know. It is way out there, I understand and it is completely contrary to any modern day teaching. But if it has any merit at all, it could have a very significant impact on the “forever” part of our life. I think it is the apostle Paul who writes that our “light and momentary troubles are achieving an eternal glory that far outweighs them all”—the bad times that we go through. The apostle’s advice is to set our sights on unseen—Godly, eternal—things rather than on temporary seen things. All of this to say that our deliverance from the financial shortfall has not yet presented itself. But faithful is our father.