Finding Rest by the Roadside

On the way, I need to rest as soon as possible. I can sense an uninvited aura in me. But just can’t, I’m driving on a busy road. It is the second time it had happened to me during that month.

The traffic is moving slowly which gave me time to react. However, it’s hard to find a layby area of the road on the congested road. And, my eyes getting dim each second. We searched for it but no layby area is around the corner.

With no time to lose, I need to move on, towards the side of the road with all the conscience I could gather. The problem began when another vehicle flashed its light towards us which triggered my brain to malfunction as it did before and after my brain surgery.

My limbs are growing numb yet able to do the little movement for pulling my vehicle by the roadside. Inside the car were my family whom I don’t want them to get perturbed. By now, my children were in their praying mode.

The other day, their prayers were answered so were rested by the roadside for sometime before we could drove off again. They were tearing up in their prayer because their father – the leader and the driver in the trip was unable to lead them. If it gets worst ambulance call might be necessary again. And, they knew the ordeal. So, they prayed harder.

It was more than a year nothing of that sort is happening to us, or should I say, to me. Our confidence was once again shaken. The important part is we find a Layby area on the roadside until we wait whether my SOS pill works this time or not.

By now, we pulled out by the roadside, press the parking signal, for our prevention. I rested. We were waiting for the migraine and migraine triggered pain and numbness to subside. Once we found the resting place, on the busy road, it helps a lot.

There we rested. Once it gets better we were able to drive towards the hospital again. It has become a way of life, going through the aura and pain, for me. However, finding rest in between the journey of life is a privilege that can’t be neglected without giving thanks.

On the road to our pilgrimage, we needed rest. We simply can’t turn back nor are we supposed to give up either. It’s better searching for a resting place before the journey is over. And, once we search for it we are bound to find it if it’s not the end of the road. We are to keep searching since we did not know the end.

Derailed But Not Lost:

Jacob was fraught about his meeting with his brother Esau. He was afraid his brother would not forgive him. One night, after a fight with God, it was a moment of great relief for him.

His struggle with God and man have prevailed before the Lord. He was blessed; determined to go although he was limping from his hip. (Genesis 32) His brother had welcomed him home. However, through the ages, famine had struck him and his households.

Jacob’s households can’t just stay aloof. Famine doesn’t spare them. Long story short, his missing son Joseph was on God’s mission to restore his household in such time of struggle. They were asked by Joseph to move to Egypt due to the long-prevailing famine.

But he asked the Lord, who once met him. The Lord assured his descendants will be brought back from Egypt. His family needed a layby area during the famine. They really were brought back to their ancestral land where the Lord had promised them.

On the Busy Road:

On the road in our pilgrimage, we have to finish the race, drove towards our destination leaning on the grace of God. We hit roadblocks, and we are not alone. So, we do not fear getting lost in the wilderness of life – the wilderness of the soul even in a crowded place. There are times when our prayer becomes our only SOS.

The road’s always busy – people are running the race as fast as they could. Some have their destinations clear yet some eyes are getting dimmed day by day. I am afraid, if we don’t prevail before the Lord, we would get hit and derailed forever as we run our race.

Adjustments are a necessity as well. There will be times people fear to board our vehicle, being driven by us because we were incompetent and they saw us. We should not blame them. It is better adjusting around our surroundings.

Get Some Rest:

Today, all are busy. Some are busy in God’s business while some are busy in their own business. It’s not a matter concerning a particular individual. Even a healthy person felt used up due to overworking. And, for people with a chronic sickness, we are living with insecurity and/or self-consciousness throughout.

So many people were coming and going, the disciples did not even have a chance to eat. People have heard what Jesus had done – the miracles he had performed and the teachings he had given. They wanted more. They were restless souls yearning for more.

Jesus Christ, as always was, compassionate about his disciples. He said to them,

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

This is the way to get rest, on the busy road, in our pilgrimage. Find a quiet place away from the city slickers and the countryside crooks. Read the word of God; spend some time in communion with God.

Ending Note:

Our life is like a busy roadside, we would be left behind should we don’t try to move forward. Your life’s becoming smooth now? If so, don’t look down on others. Some people are still struggling to find rest by the roadside.

In the abiding grace of God, we found rest by the roadside even in the most inappropriate situations of life. When we are in the mud, it’s not easy to get through but depending on God and abiding in him and his words, we found rest.