Road Sign

This past week I suddenly noticed some new road signs on the road I travel to and from work. Who knows, they may have been there for months...and I just never paid any attention.

But this week as I was driving along and contemplating life, I passed these signs and it suddenly struck me that these signs are so true. About driving this particular stretch of road, and about life.

Hill Blocks View. The hill is blocking the view so you don't know what is coming next or what is about to come over the hill. The sign is to warn drivers to be cautious in those areas. Don't be impatient and try to pass other drivers when you can't see what might be coming next. Don't anticipate because you can only see the hill, not the view.

I've been thinking about my life as a journey. I often imagine it as a pathway or a road that I am walking as I try to emulate Christ and follow His ways. I imagine the views I'm seeing as I think about the things going on in my life. The happy things and positive things and exciting things seem like pleasant places to me. The hard things and disappointing things seem like deserts, valleys, or hills.

And recently, I've felt like I was in a valley, or trudging up a hill. So when I saw this sign I thought, "This hill blocks my view." I can't see what's coming next. I can't anticipate where this will lead.

In this journey of life, we can't know why things happen or where things will lead. We may have a vision of where we're going, but if we're following Jesus, we can't know for sure where the journey will take us. But we follow our Savior eagerly. And when we get to the top of the hill, we can look back and see the view. And we can begin to see the whys. And be glad for the valley and the climb.

This kind of reminds me of the threads of life. The weaver weaves them together. It takes a while for the pattern to emerge, and especially if you look at the underside, it just looks like a tangle. But it ends up being a beautiful tapestry.

The hill blocks the view. For now. But it won't always. Eventually we'll be at the top and we'll see more clearly where we came from and where we're going. We'll catch a fresh vision and we'll have a fresh viewpoint as we continue our journey. We can't anticipate, or get impatient. But the excitement of seeing the view is building, and the beauty of the view, of seeing the valleys and hills and pleasant places and deserts all blending into a beautiful panorama of a life serving God will be worth it all.

And so I keep walking, keep journeying, keep following my Jesus on this aventura de la vida. Because He is worth it all. Because He is guiding me on this pathway. And I,
must only follow.