We just returned from a trip to Oregon to visit family, take in some track meets, and attend the high school graduation for our granddaughter, Lacey, from North Clackamas Christian School. It was a very special time but the trip seems to get longer each year! It is short, however,  compared to the train ride my wife had last summer. A melanoma was discovered on the back of her left eye and she was sent to the University of Washington medical facility to have proton therapy. It involved four train rides from Libby to Seattle (five, counting her check up this February).  On her return in late August, after having five days of therapy, the normal twelve-hour train ride took twenty four!  The engine broke down in the middle of the night in Eastern Washington. They sat there for ten hours without power, which meant no air conditioning!  Since there was also no cell service, the passengers had no way to contact those who were waiting to pick them up at their destinations. Finally the  Burlington Northern “rescue” engine showed up and pulled the train into Spokane where they had to get powered up and join the awaiting train from Portland. . Then at Sandpoint, Idaho, they had to stop to refuel and at Bonners Ferry had to wait for a new crew to arrive to operate the train!  They finally pulled into Libby some twelve hours later than scheduled.  They were due at 5:11 a.m. and arrived around 5:30 p.m.!  My waiting at the depot is a story for another time (We have only one cell phone, and Kathy had it).

     When Kathy finally got cell service, she turned her phone on to play some Christian music and the first song that came on was “Weary Traveler” by Jordan St. Cyr!  She was very tempted to play it for all the folks in her train car.  The lyrics relate how we are sometimes beat down from the storms we have weathered and it “feels like the road just might go on forever,” but we are challenged to “Carry on…Weary traveler, you won’t be weary long. Someday soon we’re gonna make it home.”  God definitely has a sense of humor, but was also reminding Kathy that He was there for her.

     I couldn’t help but think about Noah and his family who spent 370 days inside the Ark!  Genesis 8:1 says, “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.”  It’s not that God forgot about Noah, but that He was now acting in His perfect timing to carry out His plan and purpose. God never forgets about us. He is there all the time, working His plan. Sometimes it seems that the “road just might go on forever” but “we’re gonna make it home. Weary traveler, you won’t be weary long.” “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (I Cor. 15:58).  So, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary” (Gal. 6:9). 

     The “road” we are on may be a difficult one with many challenges, but we are to remain steadfast. That involves unwavering faith and perseverance, resisting the temptation to grow weary in the face of those challenges. It is about trusting in God’s promises and remaining committed to His purpose, even when life is difficult. It is a conscious choice to remain firm in our faith, even when facing adversity, discouragement or persecution. It involves continual commitment to doing His will, looking to Jesus as our example. “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame…” (Heb. 12:1,2). Steadfastness involves trusting, not only in God’s plan and purpose, but also in His timing and not growing weary when waiting. “As for God, His way (and His timing) is blameless..” (Psa. 18:30). “Those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (Isa. 40:31). “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Cor. 4:17,18). 

     So, “weary traveler, you won’t be weary long. Someday soon we’re gonna make it home”!

Forever his,

Pastor Dave N