Great Basin National Park, located in north-eastern Nevada, is not one of the better known of our 63 national parks. We visited it this summer on the way between Los Angeles and Boise, ID (not a direct route, by the way). The route to the park from L.A. took us through the eastern part of Nevada, which, if you’ve not been there, is pretty sparse.
Along the drive both Joanie and I got alerts on our phone. It was a flash flood warning, which was a little disturbing to me. But worse yet was the admonition to stay off the road! I’m from Washington. We have floods. But…they are rivers overflowing their banks and the like, not flash floods. We were not precisely anxious, but a little concerned about the situation, so we decided to find some locals in the next town (wherever that was!) and see what they might tell us or advise. We reached the town of Caliente and opted to skip the gas station (who knows how old the attendant might be) and stop at the TrueValue Hardware we saw – Lincoln TrueValue – hoping that some older, wiser folks were around. By the way, if you ever happen to be in Caliente Nevada, stop in and see them – they were most excellent.
The folks at the store – I assume the owners – laughed a little, but not in a condescending way. They showed us how much mud had been deposited on the sidewalk and parking lot in the prior day’s flash flood – which wasn’t the most encouraging thing to see. But then they said, “You will be alright if you just stay up on the road.” In the possibility that the rain came down so hard we had no visibility, we pull over to the side somewhat and wait it out, but whatever the circumstance “stay up on the road.” They were very kind and reassuring as we still had 2 ½ hours to drive to get to our accommodations.
Well, we did drive through some heavy rain, but not enough to have us pull over, and…we did not get swept away in a flash flood. Thankfully!
Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but think, even as the store owner gave us his counsel, “This will preach.” God has given us a road to travel on. Jesus calls it the “narrow road” (Matthew 7:14). It is the path marked out for us by God’s Word and we get ourselves in trouble when we step off this road, whether it’s to explore a rabbit trail, or to sightsee, or because we think we know a short cut. So let me share a piece of wisdom from a Nevada shop owner that it easy to remember, but exactly right for our spiritual journey: Stay up on the road!
Pursue Christ – He is enough,
Pastor Jeff