Overcoming Bumps In The Road Of Life

            As a young boy of 14, I was climbing one of the few mountains in the hill country of central Texas with my cousin who was much older and bigger than I.  He told me we would just take this path to the top.  It was very difficult for me because my legs were much shorter than his and there were many big rocks along the way.  I told him this is not a path, it’s all rocky and bumpy.  His reply to me was, “sure, the bumps are what you climb on.”

            What a great philosophy!  Life revolves around how we handle the bumps in the road of life.  I used to look at some people and think, “wow they really have it made!”  But life has taught me that it is not easy!  I have yet to find a successful person whose life didn’t encounter problems or difficulties.  If you were to talk to any successful person today you would find that their climb to the top of their mountain was just as bumpy.  But it was the bumps they climbed on to get where they are.

It is often a misconception that ministers live a life free from bumps and bruises.  But I know if you talked to any successful minister today they will tell you that they had to climb on the bumps to get where they are.  Their success involved climbing a lot of bumps.

My wife and I have been around the block, as some people like to say.  Life has not been easy.  We’ve raised two children to be fine upstanding adults for which we are thoroughly pleased.  Even our older grandchildren have shown signs of great Christian growth.

When we’ve suffered illnesses, we have called upon God and He has sustained us through the bumps in the road of life.  When we did what we thought was right by leaving the ministry and entering into a business that took all our savings, we were excited.  When months of hard work in preparing to open for business ended with failure and a loss of everything, we were devastated.  We had no alternative but to file bankruptcy and start over.  We knew if we prayed that God would bring us through.  These were just more bumps in the road of life.

God saw to it that we were to come back to serving him in another church in another state.  We served Him about five years before I was overcome by stress from overworking my ministry.  I sought my doctor’s advice and he told me I was stressed out and that I needed a long break.  My wife and I prayed about what we should do.  Even then God sustained us through the major decision to leave the ministry again and return to Texas.

After about eleven years of being back in the secular world when we thought everything was just fine until we hit another bump.  I lost my job, my car, my house and almost lost my sanity.  We sought the Lord’s guidance again and He brought us through.

You know, it really doesn’t matter how many bumps we encounter, God is always there to help us over them!  Our God is an awesome God!

Have you climbed any bumps lately?  Have you wondered how you’re going to overcome them?  May I encourage you to call upon the Lord.  He is there for you and He will bring you through.