Location is Key
In the past week, we've traveled over 2,500 miles, and we've seen a lot. We went to Mount Rushmore and had our picture taken with the Founding Fathers. We spent the night in the South Dakota Badlands and enjoyed sunrise with a ram-horn sheep (I'm not making that up!). We saw our first snow of the season and witnessed a wind-storm in Kansas that I thought might transport our motorhome to Oz. Yes, it's been an action-packed week.
Somewhere during our travels (I honestly don't remember what state we were in at the time), I saw a road sign that made me laugh out loud. This isn't the first time I've laughed at a road sign, but it is the first time I laughed at the sign's location rather than the sign's wording. If I could have gotten my camera out fast enough, I would have taken a picture, but it happened too fast.
Anyway, the sign read "Waste Disposal Site." Okay, I know what you're thinking. What's funny about that, right? To understand, I'll need to set the scene. The road sign is on the right-hand side of the road and bears an arrow pointing to the left. Immediately across from the sign, on the left side of the street (where the arrow is pointing), is a cemetery. I guess I have a morbid sense of humor, but I thought that was hilarious.
Obviously, the sign indicated that the Waste Disposal Site was down the next road on the left, and the signage was placed so that the driver could have the information in time to react to it. I get that. I really do. But, I would have found a better place for the sign. Maybe right before the cemetery or right after it. But not directly across from it. The placement was unfortunate. . .funny, but unfortunate.
After I had finished laughing (and explaining to Jason why I was laughing as he had missed the sign), I began thinking about the importance of location. How many businesses have closed because of poor placement? Location is key. And it isn't any different when it comes to our walk with the Lord.
God wants us to walk with Him, but how many times do we run ahead or lag behind? Content to do our own thing, we dawdle along, wasting time and resources in the process. Other times, we're so impatient, we rush ahead, paying little heed to the guidance of the Lord. If I'm honest, I think I spend more time running ahead or lagging behind than I do walking hand in hand with my Lord. I don't mean to. I don't want to. But I often get so wrapped up in my little world, I forget the importance of location.
I can't help but think of the chorus to an old hymn: "Hand in hand, we walk each day. Hand in hand along the way. Walking thus, I cannot stray. Hand in hand with Jesus." I don't know about you, but that's my goal, and in this case, poor placement is no laughing matter.
Lord, help me not to run ahead or lag behind. I want to walk with you, hand in hand, every step I take.
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”