Ep 40: Treacherous Roads

Speaker1: Hey. Good morning, I'm Daniel Delp, and this is for your Sunday morning drive. The short podcast designed to help put you in a Colossians three two mindset and help recenter your mind on those spiritual things. On hectic Sunday mornings, we are brought to you in partnership with the Ministry League Network of Podcasts. You can check out their link in our show notes of every episode to find great resources to help you spiritually. If you've been a listener for any amount of time, I do want to say I appreciate you writing along with us every morning, and it's my genuine prayer that this podcast is helpful to you. If it is, I humbly ask that you share it with someone else that might also enjoy the podcast and give it a rating and review if you got the time. I think that takes care of it for today. Let's go ahead and get into today's episode. This is episode 40, Treacherous Roads. Let's go to church.

Speaker2: Are we there yet?

Speaker1: At the time of this recording, a major winter storm has crippled the Midwest. Many cities, Evansville included, have declared a state of emergency, and many are without power due to the ice, snow, and wind from winter Storm Blaire. The weather was so bad and the roads so treacherous, that many congregations opted to cancel services on Sunday, all because of treacherous roads. And that got me thinking. Our savior also traveled a treacherous road, and he did so on the path to the cross. In fact, if we understand Luke 2326 correctly, the path was so treacherous and the abuse he underwent so severe that someone else carried the cross for him. Luke 2326 and when they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus. One of my favorite hymns is entitled Follow Me, and the first verse goes like this I traveled down a lonely road and no one seemed to care. The burden on my weary back had bowed me to despair. I oft complained to Jesus how folks were treating me. And then I heard him say so tenderly. My feet were also weary along the Calvary Road. And the cross became so heavy I fell beneath the load. Be faithful, weary pilgrim. The morning I can see.

Speaker1: Just lift your cross and follow close to me. And you know I love these words. Because they really highlight a mindset that we often find ourselves in. We are so concerned about our burdens, about our troubles, about our trials, that often, sometimes we see our roads as so treacherous and so difficult that we forget the road that Jesus walked and we forget who he walked it for us. Romans chapter five verse eight says, But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. All that he endured, he endured for us that treacherous road that he walked, the cross that he bore, that he crumbled under all for us. Should we not then be resolute to endure for him. First Peter chapter four, verses 12 and 13 says, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exaltation. You see, suffering is no profound thing. And now it's not my intention to belittle it, because I know some people are really going through some hard times, and it happens to everyone to some degree.

Speaker1: But when it comes to the suffering, that is in a sense brought upon ourselves by deciding to follow after Jesus, we as Christians are certainly warned to expect it. That we should be worthy to share in the sufferings of Christ is something to rejoice in, and in that we can find so much gratitude. In acts chapter five, when Peter and John were arrested and flogged by the Sanhedrin, Scripture tells us what their attitude was. Acts 541 says, so they went on their way from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. Suffering is not fun. It's not something to be happy about, and it can be so tragic. But when we compare what we go through for the name of Jesus to what Jesus went through for us, our treacherous paths just look like bumps in the road. Well, those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive. Now it's time to hear yours. Our discussion questions for this week are. What are some things that sometimes we complain about that we can instead joyfully endure through for Jesus? Are there things that we consider to be suffering that in hindsight, are not really heavy burdens? And what scriptures come to mind that help us endure true suffering?