Watch the Road!

By John E. Thomas

“Watch the road!”

The sharp warning breaks through the droning of the wheels on the pavement, the monotony of the long drive. The driver jerks the steering wheel, and the car jumps back into his lane.

“Wow,” he apologizes to his passenger. “Sorry. I was lost in my thoughts. Too much going on.”

On long drives, especially when you’re dealing with exhaustion and heaviness, it’s so easy to drop into automatic and stop paying attention. But that’s dangerous—both when you’re driving a car and when you’re journeying through life.

The monotony of each day, rhythms worn by constant use. The dull hum of frequent commitments. Habits not even recognized as we automatically do what we’ve done in the past. The anesthesia of thoughts and dreams that we know are not real, but we use them to mute the pain of our lack of change.

Some of us escape to fantasy worlds. One such world is social media, which allows us to get lost in other people’s projections of what is real. The other fantasy is pressed upon us by the competing voices of media and entertainment.

Whatever our lives look like, all of us periodically need a voice to say, “Watch the road!”

Go Where You Intend

Do you feel like you’re on automatic pilot these days?

Do you find yourself merely responding to the things around you? Or are you practicing good habits that will keep you on the road so you reach your destination? Someone once said that you can let life happen to you, or you can happen to life. Are you living purposefully?

At the beginning of each year, many of us make New Year’s resolutions. “Here’s a list of things I want to accomplish this year.” But few of those resolutions last more than a couple of days or weeks. We’re approaching that time again—what are your goals?

Will you allow a wishful thought to anesthetize the pain as you go about your life, repeating what you’ve done before? Or will you actually start down a path that will take you where you want to go?

Tips for Watching the Road

Some people brush off spiritual disciplines as bygones of another age or culture, or they categorize them as empty religious activities—things that don’t actually do anything, but certain people use them to try to “earn” something from God.

Those are dangerous assumptions because spiritual disciplines are powerful tools God has given us to foster spiritual growth. They are the habits that keep us on the road, but like all habits, we need to take a look at them periodically and make adjustments.

Maybe the devotional life you had before COVID-19 doesn’t seem to work anymore. Perhaps God is inviting you into certain changes. A change in life requires a change in spiritual habits.

Here are some great questions and ideas to help you “watch the road.”

• What type of prayer helps you rest in God’s love and presence right now? Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard J. Foster is a great resource on different types of prayer.
• Is this a season for you to be more active or less active? If it is less active, try focusing on spiritual disciplines of abstinence like fasting, silence, solitude, or meditation. If it is more active, try focusing on spiritual disciplines of engagement like worship, service, fellowship, or study.
• What temptations do you find hard to resist right now? Seek the Lord for verses you could memorize to help fight those temptations. Is there an activity that would shift your attention back to Him in times of temptation?
• Are you spending less time with other believers? Think of some creative ways you could make time and space to talk about God, pray, and worship with others: through phone calls, video calls, home meetings, etc.
• What outside influences do you need to fast? Do you have less peace after listening to the news? Are you addicted to social media? Do you “hide” in entertainment? How can you remove or limit these influences to make more room for God?

Prayer and Intimacy

If your car is headed for a tree, don’t turn the wheel slowly! Do whatever it takes to get back on track, because accidents don’t affect just you—they also affect those around you. Stay on the road of destiny, which is paved by intimacy with God. That’s what all of us need: intimacy with our Father.

Finally, if you would like some help in developing your prayer life, check out Cultivating an Effective Prayer Life in our store. In this teaching, you will learn how to deepen your connection with God and make prayer more accessible. The Lord has invited us into a beautiful life with Him that affects every part of our being, and an effective prayer life makes room for that deeper connection with Him.

Additional Resources:

Art of Praying Scriptures: