Potholes

Welcome February! In Iowa we are enjoying an unusually mild start to the Leap Year month. Our snow banks are dwindling. We still wake to foggy mornings and some icy patches where the melting snow refroze overnight. But they quickly turn to puddles and then small streams as the day warms. We are thankful for the warmer days and the return of sunshine.

Something else has returned with the month of February: potholes! If you are driving in Iowa beware! When we drove to Arkansas last weekend our travels started out on I35/80 through Des Moines. After the first ten miles we experienced the worst stretch of road we had ever seen. Pothole after pothole with no where to avoid them. We saw car after car along the road with flat or blown tires. Hopefully those have been repaired now. The Iowa DOT and city crews have been out working hard to try and fill the nasty holes.

My husband suggested that the potholes on the roads are a lot like life. How true. As we move through life we experience potholes. There are times of illness or injury, financial struggles, family concerns such as separation or divorce, cancer scares and so much more. Life has plenty of road bumps for us to maneuver.

Thankfully we have a God who is always there for us. He hears us when we cry our hearts out or merely whisper our plea to Him. He always listens and hears. He understands our fears and sorrows and He sent His Son to teach us how to pray. He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and counsel us through our struggles. God is near.

"Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer," (Psalm 4:1 NIV).

No matter what potholes lay in your path today, turn to God in prayer for help and He will hear you. He may not answer you immediately but He will comfort you and give you hope that the rough places will be made plain. God bless you.