Jeremiah 6:16
Yet the Lord pleads with you still:
Ask where the good road is, the godly paths you used to walk in, in the
days of long ago. Travel there, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you reply, “No, that is not the road we want!”
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
My mom and her husband,
Lee, are Workamping this summer in West Yellowstone, Montana. Four days
a week, they work in a high-end retail shop, for which they are
provided wages and a full hookup campsite for their motorhome. On their
days off, they explore Yellowstone National Park and the scenery that
surrounds it in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. This week, they decided to
travel across the Bear Tooth Highway, which the late Charles Kuralt
deemed “America’s most beautiful drive”.
According to the website
http://beartoothhighway.com,...“[The Beartooth All-American
Road/Highway] is one of the highest and most rugged areas in the lower
48 states, with 20 peaks reaching over 12,000 feet in elevation. In the
surrounding mountains, glaciers are found on the north flank of nearly
every mountain peak over 11,500 feet high. The Road itself is the
highest elevation highway in Wyoming (10,947 feet) and Montana (10,350
feet), and is the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies.
A
54-mile section of the Beartooth Highway begins 8 miles south and east
of Red Lodge, Montana, and ends just east of Cooke City, Montana. Since
Mom and Lee approached from the west, they traveled 70 miles just to
get on the Highway near Cooke City. Mom had been to “Yellowstone” many
summers ago with my dad, and they approached this scenic roadway from
the east, via the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway that travels southeast to
Cody, Wyoming. She and Lee considered taking this cut-off and visiting
Cody. They had some choices to make – especially about their return
trip to West Yellowstone. They could travel to Cody and then go another
50-80 miles just to get to the east entrance to Yellowstone National
Park…then drive across the Park and back to West Yellowstone. Or they
could stay on the Beartooth Highway and drive to Red Lodge, Montana…
then make their way “home”. In the end, they chose this option, then
retraced their steps to get back to their home base.
In this area
of the country, there is no easy or quick route! Not only that, the
highways are fraught with wildlife, i.e. buffalo, elk, bears and
more…all of whom have the right-of-way. Mom says that when these
animals cross the road, traffic comes to a standstill. So this
“day-trip” ended somewhere south of 10:00 p.m., and she and Lee were
both exhausted! Had they chosen to go to Cody or traverse the National
Park itself, their “rest” might have been delayed even further!
Google
Yellowstone National Park or visit the Beartooth Highway website - or
any of several websites for attractions in the surrounding area - and
study the maps. You will get a sense of how vast this area is…and how
isolated, and even treacherous some of the stretches of road and forest
expanses can be. There are no Interstate highways to speedily traverse
from Point A to Point B...and distractions galore abound at every turn.
If you are not carefully watching the road, you are probably busy
ogling the incredibly scenery and photographing the remarkable flora and
fauna! When visiting an area such as this, it pays to do your
homework, read the maps, and listen to those who are experienced with
the area and its terrain and roadways.
Our lives are like the
glacial lakes, forests, mountain peaks and scenic vistas of a National
Park…vast, sometimes remote and out-of-the-way, filled with peaks and
valleys, and often carrying us along treacherous roadways. If we make
reckless choices or do not pay attention – or simply choose the road we
want rather than the one God ordains – we may find ourselves quite
wearied. Worse yet, we might end up in something of a pickle! Imagine
being lost in the expansive forests of Yellowstone National Park…and
then think of being “Spiritually stranded” by comparison! It boggles
the mind!
I pray that we are all “reading the maps” properly – on
America’s Scenic By-ways, and in our spiritual lives. It is human
nature to want to venture off on our own…to make our own decisions and
travel the paths that seem most interesting and enjoyable – or those
that our peers feel are right for us. But no one knows better than God
which course is truly in our best interest. His paths may not be the
ones we would choose…but they offer us the greatest opportunities for
joy, peace…and rest. More importantly, these “roadways” lead us
directly to Him and His favor…and ultimate respite with Him for all
Eternity.
It’s so easy to get off-track…to take the wrong turn
and travel far and away from the road that best leads to God’s blessings
and perfect plan for our lives. Just as in the case of Mom and Lee’s
trip, there may be several options…but one is always better than the
others. Are you doing all you can to make sure you choose the best
route in each area of your life? Will you select a path that leads to
God’s rest and peace? Are you properly preparing for “safe travels”
toward your ultimate destination? Don’t you think you should?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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