Whether your finances take a hit when the mail runs or a puppy puddle soaks your sock during your morning dash, challenges will find you. One of my latest was exploding a glass of milk on the kitchen floor at nearly midnight. I was tired, had more to do before bed, and had to get up early the next morning. I wiped milk off the floor, fridge, oven, and cabinets, quit looking, and left cleaning sticky off the floor for the next day.
If only that was as bad as challenges get.
One sunshiny June afternoon an unexpected challenge found my husband and me. We had visited Babcock State Park in Fayette County, WV, and enjoyed the mountain scenery, took pictures by Glade Creek, and toured the grist mill. On our way back, around Beckley we acted on a wild hair to take backroads home. Exploring the countryside was our thing and a cheap way to relax and make a fun day. We were in our brand new, silver Mitsubishi Outlander Sport with 4-wheel drive and had our TomTom on deck, so we set out avoiding the main roads.
The GPS directed us to turn right onto a narrow but pleasant looking one lane drive called Gilkerson Mountain Road. The road stretched through an open field of tall grass then disappeared into the forest. We hesitated. Native to West Virginia, we knew the unpredictability of her backroads. One might be well maintained and wind pleasantly through the hillside or trace a rugged path along the edge of a mountain. We were not familiar with this area, and this road was already skinny. Expecting it’d be a safe enough route, we followed the instruction.
Within a few hundred yards, pavement gave way to gravel. Still not dissuaded, we crunched toward the woods.
The road transitioned to a bumpy dirt trail, more like a private driveway than one meant for the public. As the brushy forest thickened around us, I started videoing, bubbling behind the camera, eager to capture our adventure. Three minutes in, I stopped videoing and set about seriously praying and paying attention.
Branches on either side of the trail reached toward the sides of the new car like a throng of boney, green-sleeved arms to shake our hands. Our cell signals lagged. Ruts in the road deepened dramatically to craters and mudholes big enough to wreck us. My husband navigated as carefully as he could. Out in the boonies with no cell service on an apparent off-road trail and no going back, we rocked and tipped, rose and sank.
I prayed fervently and wide-eyed. At times all four tires could not touch the ground. We propelled slowly, doggedly in an intense mixture of applying power to climb and brake to lower, making cautious, nerve-wracking progress.
The frightful ride stretched on, and we gripped and prayed our way through those woods. Finally, the trail began to ease and widen, and we rolled right out of trouble onto a level, graveled area that intersected a real road! We laughed out loud as fear evaporated and relief flooded us. Thank God, we’d made it out unharmed and still on wheels!
A side-by-side with two passengers waited alongside the mouth of the trail. My husband hollered through my window to explain our presence, which must have seemed ludicrous to someone who knew the terrain behind us. The driver somewhat warily said he would not have taken that car on that road. Neither would we have had we known!
I thank God we made it out of those woods with our only scathe a long, shallow scratch down both passenger side doors. We marred the new car, but we could have gotten smashed and wounded. I wonder if God sent those folks in the side-by-side to the trail to haul us out in case we got stuck.
So much of that Gilkerson Mountain Road experience illustrates life’s challenges. We get in over our heads even when following directions! Don’t we know full well the rugged road of overwhelming demands juggling day to day responsibilities? Then on top of that we encounter the craters and mudholes of life-altering events: someone’s health or ability is impacted, a relationship breaks down, or natural disaster hits. All kinds of things happen that threaten our security and toll our faith.
II Corinthians 4:8-9 KJV expresses our life challenges this way: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” For every challenge, hopeful assurance and victory in the difficulty follows.
God never leaves His children in the woods. I have lived through seasons of being deep in the woods on a rough road for a long time. I’ve felt stuck, wrecked, afraid, and broken. And I’ve also felt the presence, power, peace, love, and guidance of the Lord.
Feelings aside, God has always been with me and helped me through the threatening terrain. He is trustworthy and true to His Word. His Word says even when I cannot perceive Him, He knows the way I take (Job 23:8-10). His Word says He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). When I did not sense His help, I could still know He was helping.
Life has Gilkerson Mountain Roads. Whatever challenge you are up against now or in the future, when you are there, know God is with you and will see you through.
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