Proverbs 16:25: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.”

 

There are probably two things we dread the most when driving our disability buses, school traffic and snow.  Fortunately both do not occur concurrently.  If the snow reaches a depth where it becomes a real driving issue the schools will usually cancel.  However, on this occasion we had the third heaviest snow storm in the recorded history of Chicago and the schools only remained closed for two days. This was not enough to get all the streets clean and this particularly morning traffic was really backed up.  To make matters worse I found myself stopped in front of a school bus with his flashers flashing and his Stop sign extended.  I had to wait for a child to get on the bus before I could continue on my journey and from the looks of things I may have been in for quite a wait.

 

The weather was bitter cold and I saw a young mother dressed in just a housecoat and in bare feet at the door of her house desperately trying to persuade her young scholar to board the bus. The little guy was only like five years old and the mother had him outfitted like he was going to make a trek to Antarctica. He had on heavy boots, snow  pants, a heavy jacket, scarf, hood, hat and mittens which appeared to be a one size fits all. The little mother said as calmly as she could muster, “Now go on get on the bus.”   The little munchkin stood in rebellion, “I don’t want to go to school!”  The mother replied, “But you like school”  The kid looked her quizzically and asked, “I do?”  “Now go on, off with you,” encouraged the mother, obviously freezing in a housecoat and no shoes. But the little rebel stood his ground and gave what I thought as a pretty good excuse considering his outfit. “But I can’t move.”  The mother was now beginning to lose it and this time she said in no uncertain terms, “Go or I will carry you onto the bus.”  That worked its magic and he turned to walk or more like hobble his way down the stairs.  He looked like an astronaut on the moon walking down the steps of the moon lander.  Once on the ground he headed straight for a huge pile of snow.  After two days of plowing the trucks dumped a mountain of snow at least six feet high on in front of the house.  The mother began shouting, “The curb, go to the curb.”  But the little adventurer  was determined to climb Mt. Cicero for no other reason than the fact that it was there.

 

By this time there was a line of traffic and I could sense everyone holding their breath as Edmund Hillary in miniature form began to scale his mountain.  In no  time flat he reached the summit and threw his arms out in triumph which at the same moment caused him to lose his balance and begin a  rapid descent down Mt. Cicero.  All we heard was “Mommy!” In an instant mommy in her house coat and bare feet was on the spot to pick up her brave young mountain climber.  The bus driver too had taken a dive out of his bus to catch the bundle snow clothes which he assumed had a kid inside.

 

Once on his feet and thoroughly admonished by his mother the little guy turned around and started to ascend up Mt Cicero once again. He had no sooner taken his first step when mommy grabbed him by the coat and bodily carried him into the bus. As mommy made her way back to the warmth of her house suddenly drivers jumped out of their cars and began to clap and cheer for this triumphant mother, the unsung hero of the day.

 

As usual I tried to make the best of my delay by finding some spiritual value out of the experience and of course I did. Proverbs 16:25: “There is a way which seems right unto man but the end there of are the ways of death.”  Probably every driver that was delayed by this little drama was thinking of various ways they would employ to get that kid into the bus.  In the end the mother did what we all would probably have ended up doing, bodily picking up the little prodigal and carrying him into the bus.

 

The word way is derek in the Hebrew which means a direction, a road, a path, a distance, life course or a manner. Only the context will tell you which English word best suits this verse and I believe it is the word manner or life course.  The idea is that, like this little rebel, man is blinded by his own desires, passions and self-will.  What is right for him is what he feels is most desirable.  What was right in the eyes of our little hero was based upon his own desires and self- will. He did not want to go to school so he did not, he wanted to climb Mt. Cicero and so he did. However there was a mother there to steer him in the right direction.

 

The end of following your personal desires and passion which are not in the will of God are death.  The word in Hebrew used for death here is moth which is the word for death, but this is pretty general term meaning ruin, destruction, or in the case of our little tyke, something very painful.  He did not see the danger in climbing that hill but everyone else did. He was so ruled by his passions that he almost got himself into a painful situation.

 

We are so like that little child, all we see are our passions and desires and we cannot understand why we can’t have what we want and so we just go ahead after it, following our own way.  Yet God has a way whose end result is joy and happiness.  We only see the moment, but like that little mother she saw the future, she saw the need for her child to attend school and get an education something of whose value that little five year old could not grasp.

 

God’s way may not always seem the best for us, we may not understand why we cannot have immediate gratification, but God knows He sees the future and if we follow his way we will eventually end up with what our heart really desires and not end up in a painful situation.

 

But if we do go our own way, we do have a God who will chase after us and catch us when we begin to fall. And if we try to climb that mountain again, He may just pick us up and put us where we belong.

 

 

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