Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - July/80

Contributor - Peter Yff

Title - The Highway In The Heart

Topic - Life

"Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the highways to Zion." Psalm 84: 5

Summer, for many of us, is a time of travel. We try to pack a great deal of distance and activity into each day of holidays, and frequently we succeed better in wearing ourselves out than we do in finding relaxation. Highways are busy, and dangerous. As you approach junction or intersection the sounds frequently resemble those of a race-track. The screech of rubber, the roar of sudden acceleration are so common that we scarcely notice the commotion.

Small wonder that we grow tired. Small wonder that the journey requires a period of rest afterward. The journey of life is exhausting, too. The psalmist, as a pilgrim, recounts the hazards, and the exertion of returning to Jerusalem from a distant place. He has gone through the wilderness, his throat is parched and his limbs wearied. It has required all the strength he has, and more, to approach these hallowed courts once again.

He reflects on what he has discovered: a place of refuge for all the created order. The swallow finds a nesting place; even the sparrow a safe home. The graceful person, as it were, and the ordinary, the skillful and the undistinguished alike are welcome here. The weary traveller through life finds new strength for his journey. The "dry" places of life become instead springs of water, and he realizes new purpose and new courage from his God. The destination of his journey is God's house.

Highways today are numbered. It is essential for us that we follow the correct route; for unless we do we lose our way and waste much energy, time, and temper, to say nothing of gasoline. Similarly, if our journey through life is not properly guided, we lose our way. Effort in living is wasted then, and we find life to be frustrating and futile. How many folk aren't there who have precisely this experience! They have invested their time and effort. The have tried to do the best they can, yet somehow life has passed them by. Their success has been meagre, their effort's reward inadequate and fleeting, as well. The journey through life has taken them through many a desert. The peril of accident, encounters with illness along the way, and as well the experience of spiritual thirst and heart's hunger make them wonder whether anything is any good, whether there is any real purpose after all.

You find them in hospitals, and in nursing homes. You find them as well in daily work, be it in factory or office or store. Be it in city or village or hamlet, there are folk defeated, or exhausted, or bewildered. Life is a demanding thing.

The Christian has the same answer as had the psalmist, although the message of the later time is more personal, and full, through Christ. Jesus travels the road of life with us. The temple comes to be where we are. Our Lord provides no map (like the ones we used to get freely at service stations). Instead He himself is a Guide. Remember when you took a wrong turn, and wound up miles from your destination? You asked for help, and didn't you really appreciate it when someone not only told you the way, but showed you the way, going personally with you so that you would have no possibility of getting lost again? Jesus is that kind of Guide. He said, "I am the Way . . . ." With him there is refreshing, and even the desert time becomes fruitful. Jesus said of the earthly spring, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life". (John 4: 13, 14)

In your heart, when it is open to God, is a highway to Him. Where is your heart taking you?

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