Several times a week I drive down a 3-mile stretch of country road. I’ve been driving this same course for twenty years. Here are the establishments I pass on the way: a garbage dump, a power plant, storage rental units, a second garbage dump, and a sewage plant. I bet you want to know where you can find this scenic route so you can take a Sunday drive! Joking aside, the Lord recently opened my eyes to a spiritual parallel so obvious I feel silly that I haven’t seen it before on one of my many past trips.
This road is all about consumption and waste. I consume. I waste. I repeat. What a worldly road I cycle through all the time! Here are some other straightforward observations about this road as well as the reminders the Lord brought to me from His word:
· This road is on the outskirts of town. – Everyone is a consumer and a waster, but no one wants to live with the by-products. It’s simply not healthy. Spiritually speaking, I don’t want to be on the outside of the body of Christ looking in. Psalm 22:22 says, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you…”
· This road is smelly for obvious reasons. – 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 says, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing…” I love these phrases in relation to our Christian journey – It’s a ‘triumphal procession’ spreading ‘the aroma of Christ.’ What does that smell like exactly? I’m not quite sure, but I bet you’d want to lean in and breathe deeply.
· This road is frequented by semi-trucks. – They’re somewhat unsavory characters on country roads. They take up a lot of space, are always going at an inconvenient speed, and the air horns are obnoxious. Metaphorical fender benders with others on life’s road, whether they be bullies or blessings, are unavoidable. However, Colossians 4:6 reminds us that no one appreciates blaring diesel air – “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
Multiple trips down this isolated, smelly, and sometimes noisy road drives me into the arms of Jesus. God created us to be consumers. Our souls are hungry. These hungers might be a sense of purpose and significance, true love and intimacy, security, and rest or freedom, and power among many others. So often we grasp for satisfaction by consuming in a worldly fashion. Each of us devises different ways to fill our needs. We might manipulate others, splurge on a Target run, or try to live vicariously through our children.
If you’re finding yourself stuck out of town smelling foul air behind a tractor trailer, it’s time to step on your brakes. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what it is in particular that your soul is craving and how you’ve been attempting to satisfy that hunger on your own. Is it a pattern in your life that crops up at certain times? For instance, I’ve recognized that I’m particularly vulnerable to this cyclical trap when I’m overwhelmed or navigating a seasonal change in life. This is when the waste starts piling up – wastes of time, resources, relationships, etc. If you’re beginning to understand the need for a second garbage dump on the road don’t be discouraged! In the Lord’s hands our failures, shortcomings, and futile attempts at self-satisfaction are not wasted.
The most wonderful thing about turning from the world’s pattern which is consumption that bears waste is that God’s pattern is consumption that bears fruit. He doesn’t waste anything. A great quote from Bill Wilson is, “In God’s economy, nothing is wasted.” Jesus tells us in John 15:5-8, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” (NLT)
We produce much fruit when we are satisfied in our Father. There’s an endless supply for our desires and there is no waste when we consume our fill. I love how the Lord reveals new and special things just when you think life is the same old, same old! Don’t you? May the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. I pray He is showing you new things on old roads and that you are satisfied in Him on the journey!
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