Get Over The Pass

Driving in Colorado can be a very interesting experience when it comes to weather. It can be 14 degrees one day and 55 degrees the very next day. There are fifty eight peaks that are above 14,000 feet in the state (only two that you can drive to the peak) and all different heights of mountains in between including many passes to drive over depending what direction you are traveling.
 
New Year’s weekend we were driving over a pass in the state that can have some of the weirdest weather and the one that gets the most snow in the entire state, Wolf Creek. As we approached the pass from Durango the roads were slick and icy and only got worse as we drove up the pass. There was a small traffic jam we got caught in from the roads being so slick. We made our way up the pass, which had snow and ice all over the place. My thinking was that we were not going to get back home until very late because of the slow speeds were had to maintain.
 
As we crossed over the summit and started down the other side of the pass, the weather started to clear and the snow was gone from the road by the time we got to South Fork, which is the first town on the other side of the mountain. It was like the storm never even hit that side of the pass with relatively clear roads and bluebird skies. Coming up one side of Wolf Creek pass would give you NO indication that the weather was something completely different on the other side.
 
Think about the storms of life and the challenges that can come on us with or without warning. When we are coming up to a potential storm we can start to make plans for how it will affect us. For me, it was watching the weather for the day we were leaving Durango and letting Yolanda know that we would probably not be home until very late and to plan for a long day of travel.
 
Maybe your “life storm” is one that comes up out of nowhere and slows down your progress in life to a crawl or even a stop. Nothing that you could have done would have prepared you for the situation you are in. I have learned, in my almost 30 years of driving in ALL weather conditions, that it is important to be prepared for anything as it is wise to prepare for any of the road hazards you may run into in life.
 
The point I’m making is that just because you are traveling through a storm now in life does not mean that it will storm forever and if you are in clear blue skies to realize that a storm could be over the next “pass” of life. This is not defeatism to think these things but more of an evaluation of your attitude no matter what you encounter in life.
 
Just like me driving over Wolf Creek pass and thinking I was in for a challenging all day drive back home the same is with you in your life. It is time to just “get over the pass” and not predetermine things that have not (and probably will never) happen.

It was something that Paul modeled in the Bible for us in Philippians 4:10-13
        10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you                      were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.
        11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the      
             circumstances.
        12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret
             of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in
             plenty or in want.
        13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Today, purpose yourself to look beyond the storms of life AROUND you and consider the strength that God can give you IN those storms. We are praying that you have an amazing 2017 and that God would increase your faith in him and recognize the power you have in His name and purpose for your life.