The French village in which my wife and I live has a busy thoroughfare running through it - the main road between Bergerac and Bordeaux. Our home is situated on that road. This afternoon, as I was working in the garden, I realised that traffic had stopped, and that a long queue was forming on the other side of the road - heading towards Bordeaux.
Being an inquisitive (or, as my wife would say, "nosey!"!) person, I walked to the front gate to find out what was happening. The sight of a motorcycle rider coming along the road, waving drivers to put their vehicles on to the pavement, was a sure sign that we were awaiting a "Convoi Exceptionnelle" - Abnormal Load.
About ten minutes later, it appeared around the bend in the road - and it was truly "Exceptionnelle"! We are used to seeing large yachts and sea-going cabin cruisers being transported - but this dwarfed them all! It was a large catamaran, and was at least 50% wider than the boats that normally pass by!
Then, as it drew closer, and the driver of the very long transporter straightened up his load, I saw the catamaran begin to tip towards the pavement. I immediately tried to warn the drive by gesticulating with my arms, and wondered why the driver of the escort vehicle that was following him wasn't blasting the horn! All that I could see was a total disaster, with a badly damaged catamaran (on the starboard hull, if nowhere else), and some badly damaged fencing and hedges.
It was only as the transporter passed by, that I saw that the whole vessel was securely attached to a hydraulically-operated platform, and that the 'tip' was perfectly safe, and deliberately put into action by the driver in order to make the passage of the vessel past some road signs, easier. I had seen what was happening - but I didn't understand that someone was actually in control!
That is so like life! Sometimes, things appear to be tipping out of control. All that I can see is a disaster about to happen. There is going to be damage. There might even be a total catastrophe!
What I don't see is that Father God is in control! That driver knew the route; he had been made aware of the difficult sections; he knew exactly what to do when he reached them. Father God sees the end from the beginning. From His vantage point in eternity, He knows (and sees) what is happening before it ever happens in the time-space continuum in which you and I live out our mortal lives.
That catamaran was/is an inanimate object, with no life. But if it had the capability of thought, I suspect that it would have been worried when that hydraulic ram made it tip. Yet there was no need for it to be so. So for you and for me, if we are disciples of the Lord Jesus. When difficulties arise; when we are unsure as to what is "around the corner"; when life seems to be tipping us over - we may trust in the One Who knows the way, and knows how to negotiate every inch of it.
Someone has made the point that, being a disciple of Jesus doesn't protect us from every difficulty - but it does mean that we have Him with us, whatever that difficulty may be! Because He has gone before, He knows the way, and because He lives, He can lead us along it.
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