Last week our family headed to the Wisconsin Dells for a wild weekend vacation at one of the waterparks. Before leaving I wanted to make sure our tires were properly inflated. So I took our family minivan to the gas station around the corner from our house to fill up the tires. After I finished filling the last tire I noticed the sound of hissing air. Pssssssssssssss. I held the air hose up to my ear and did not hear anything. I then put my ear next the tire and sure enough the tire stem was leaking. This is not good. Air was coming out about as fast as I could fill it. We were not going anywhere unless I could get this fixed fast.
Fortunately, there was a mechanic shop next door to the gas station. I quickly drove the van across the parking lot before the tire deflated, walked inside, and said “HEEELP!” The mechanic told me to pull the van into the shop. He pulled out his little tire stem tool twisted the stem on the tire and in about three seconds I heard him say, “next!” It was all fixed and ready to go.
Now don’t you wish every little crisis we face in life was fixed so easily? Rarely do we encounter such simple solutions. To “fix” these crises of life it often seems like we are left choosing the lesser of two evils. There are no easy answers. Sometimes I find myself wishing there was a step by step manual that left no room for interpretation. It would be much easier if life was more black and white and did not have so many shades of grey. As our world becomes increasingly complex, our problems also become increasingly complex. So how do we navigate through life’s challenges, especially when it seems there are no easy answers?
I will give you one word. The word is faith. It is not faith as faith is often defined. Faith is often defined as having a positive attitude in spite of difficult circumstances. I will contend faith is more than a positive attitude. Rather it is confidence in Jesus the Savior. It is confidence that God’s plan will prevail. The pathway may not be the pathway we really want to go down. Sometimes God will take us down a path that we would rather not go, only to bring us to a destination that is beyond anything we could have ever imagined.
The book of Hebrews says, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 There may be some rough days with incredible challenges. It may not seem like there is much light at the end of the tunnel and that there is no solution in sight. But that is why we look to Jesus, because Jesus is the light. When everything else seems dark, he will shine.
