Just Around The Bend

"N

ot much farther", Thomas told himself.  "The cabin has to be ahead, just around the next bend."  He had been hiking for what seemed like days, though in actuality, it had only been since early morning.  Yet, as the evening approached, Thomas knew he had to find shelter before dark and before the heavy thunderstorms predicted began.  He looked at the map again.  All indications pointed to a cabin, very close to his location, where he could find shelter and food for the next several days until he was rested and the storms subsided.

The trails he had taken earlier in the day had been very difficult.  His legs, feet, and back were tired and hurting.  All he wanted was to rest.  He imagined the cabin would be a rickety shack with a dirt floor.  There would be some dehydrated food and water for him to nourish himself and there would be a dry place where he could roll out his bag and sleep.  He tried to keep his mind focused on the cabin, and even though the accommodations would be less than deluxe, he could rest and regain his strength.

Finally, Thomas reached the bend in the road and there, not more than one hundred yards a head of him, was the cabin, just as the map had indicated.  But the cabin was nothing like he had imagined it would be.  It was very large with a large, covered porch.  The back had a wooden deck and a place to relax and watch the nearby river.  Inside, he couldn't believe his eyes.  It was warm, dry, and clean with ample room to spread out.  There was food, real food stored there as well as a small kitchen, a refrigerator, and a small dining table.  There was even a cot provided and a radio powered by solar panels for contact with the outside world.  Never in his wildest imagination would Thomas have ever dreamed that such a place existed in this barren and seemingly forsaken place.

Although the foregoing story is not true, it does speak volumes to us about our walk with God.  The feeling Thomas experienced upon reaching this cabin must have reflected the same idea the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Paul is quoting from the Old Testament, Isaiah 64:4.

Like Thomas, the road we take seems long.  Sometimes it appears that we have been walking it forever and that we will never reach our destination.  We look for a place along the way, just somewhere to sit, rest, sleep, and nourish our bodies.  We know that God provides resting places along the trail and our map (the Scriptures) even indicates to us where we find these areas.  But we imagine that these shelters will be sparsely supplied, and will serve only to meet the most basic necessities.

That is when God steps in and says, "Surprise, look what I have for you!"  The places that God prepares for us are beyond our scope of understanding.  Often we look at this passage from Corinthians and apply it to our heavenly home, a place we can't even imagine.  But I think God also means for us to apply this to our daily lives as well.  We can't see with our eyes, nor imagine in our hearts or minds all the things God has planned for us in our daily walk with him.  His provisions are always more than adequate.  Instead of dehydrated food, he supplies manna and quail; instead of stagnant water, he provides "streams in the desert"; instead of a hard patch of ground on which to sleep, he "makes us lie down in green pastures."  What a great and awesome God we serve!  So, if today, you are on a trail that seems very long and trying, if you, like Thomas, are looking for rest and shelter, read your map, follow the trail, and you'll find God's best waiting for you just around the bend.