CoffeeSwirls

Hidden Trail Markers

So here I am at my PC when it would be more adventurous to be going down a snowy hill right now without any steering mechanism. Some would argue that the internet is a riskier pastime, and I could certainly agree in some respects, but when I sit in 72° degree comfort with Delirious singing History Maker in the background, a steaming cup of java at my left hand and a mouse at my right, I feel like I'm in my element.

And where's everybody else? Tina's mother is turning... 40 in a few days (You owe me one, Cathi!) and Tina had arraigned a play date with Ben's cousin Seth with her younger sisters and their friends babysitting while the older sisters taking their mother out to some girlie venue. Hmm. I could go to that wine and cheese place, I could hang out with a bunch of young teen girls who like to run the asylum or I could work on my newsletter for tonight's release (which I'm obviously not doing at the moment). Sounds like a no-brainer.

So I dropped Tina and Ben off at Toni's house in nearby Altoona and was pressed into service to get Burger King for the kids. I guess they have cooler kid's meal toys this month than McDonald's. So I got in the car with two of the girls who would be staying with the boys and we headed out. A few blocks down the road, Chelsea or Courtney (whatever her name is) shouted out, "My door is open!" You'd think after fourteen years of riding in cars, she'd have door-closing on her resume as a mastered skill, but apparently not. I decided to take the car over to the shoulder of the road so she could safely make sure her door was closed.

And the car leaned to the right a bit more than expected.

With all of the recent snow, I couldn't see this, but there is no shoulder on the road we were on. I rocked the car back and forth. I pushed while Camerin tried to help by driving the car with my pushing. Before long I was a mess of dirt and grime that was thrown up and down me. The girls started back to Toni's home with the bad news and I stayed behind to try a few other tricks, like driving out backwards instead of forwards, but only managed to entrench the car worse than before. Luckily, it wasn't long before some nice guys came with a pickup and a chain and pulled the car out.

And what did I learn from this excursion? Well, there is no shoulder on that road, and car doors are meant to be closed before the car is put into motion. That's about it. But there are parallels to this story.

Proverbs 22:28:
Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers.

The trail of life is one that is treacherous, and boundary stones are those markers that tell you that you are on the right path. Those markers are found throughout the Bible. This is how it has been for generations upon generations as the role of husbands among their family members has been a time-honored rule. And then in the last 50-60 years, these markers have been intentionally attacked by our culture. They are hidden as much as possible as the culture tries to invalidate them and eventually destroy them.

We can be assured that the destruction of the rules set by God and spoken to us in His Word will never be invalidated or destroyed, but just as I was unable to see that there was no shoulder on that road because of the snow, the roles of men are hidden by the mixed signals that are thrown our by the media, which continues to build a monopoly on our culture.

Don't believe me? When did you last see a popular TV show that showed the man as a capable, intelligent, loving husband and father, leading his family by sacrificing his desires for their good? What's the last show you watched that portrayed a husband as a person who runs into an issue that is bigger than him, and confidently makes a decision after seeking the council of his Bible? How long has it been since that show portrayed a healthy family at all? What message is the next generation of husbands and fathers receiving about what is to be expected of them?

The result of these attacks on our boundary markers is a generation of confused men who don't know what it means to be a man.

The Biblical concept of a father is actually quite simple, while the execution is difficult, and hampered by the culture all around us. We are to be the teachers of our children, not the "boob tube" (figuratively and literally). Our role as teachers is to raise our children to walk the same Godly path so they will place their trust in God as well. Such a simple role! And yet so many failures are out there, teaching their children and the children of others to make their own path of destruction.

When we miss the hidden trail markers that were warning us against the danger ahead, what do we do? In my example from today, I tried to get out of it on my own, and ended up in a worse situation than I had been in before. David tried the same kind of tactic when Bathsheba became pregnant. His fix for the situation resulted in lies and murder, and only God could pull him out of the snowy ditch of his trouble. What do you do when a situation is beyond your control? Do you go back to God in prayer and read His love letter to us all or do you take matters into your own hands?

Me? I'll make every effort to watch for the true trail markers, and when I've missed them, I'll ask God to get out his heavy chain and pull me from the depths.