Driving late at night on old highways in the middle of nowhere separates you from the rest of the world. All you can see is blackness above you and your car's lights illuminating the gray and yellow highway as you speed along. And then suddenly you think, "What if I couldn't stop? What if my only purpose was to stay between these lines while rushing into the darkness and the ultimate end of the road? Where does the road end, by the way?" But you don't know...and you won't until you get there. The feeling is almost mesmerizing. It reminds me of the sovereignty of God--we know that He has picked a path for us to follow and set us upon a course and that He illuminates our way. But sometimes we don't see exactly where the road turns until we get there.

Lately, I've been thinking about what life is really about--and about just how disappointing life can be sometimes. As I reflected over the last year, I was amazed at how many bad things happened...and how much disappointment and hurt they created and will continue to create for people. But then I started thinking about whether these were "spiritual" disappointments--and the truth is that they aren't! Not a single one of them! All of my major disappointments of 2009 were caused by people and sin--none of them by God. And despite the hurt, anger, and disappointment, God remained faithful and showered me and those around me with love. In the big picture of Heaven, all earthly wrongs that have been experienced are soothed. In fact, with each earthly wrong committed towards me, I experienced new found joy in my reliance on Christ. I think that sometimes I try to hold onto my world with fingers tightly clasping it, but this year the Lord began to slowly pry them loose one by one until I finally surrendered my life to His sovereignty. If we hold the world tightly, we will never experience true joy in Christ. This world is not my home and none of the things in it are my ultimate goal to attain. I seek to gain Christ...and to live with Him in a Heavenly home. "The ultimate joy is to be a Christian."-John Piper

"If someone does not have Christ as their Treasure above all else, then they are not a Christian."--John Piper (I guess this quote just sums it up. Sometimes we have to experience earthly disappointments to pry our fingers off of the less satisfying earthly offers in order to grasp firmly the Heavenly reward, our Treasure Jesus Christ).

Salvation and being a Christian isn't about "being a good person"--it's about a heart to heart relationship with Jesus that nothing is powerful enough to break. So to all out there wondering, there is freedom, hope, and healing in Jesus....seek Him while He may be found.