-R.I.P. Max-

A few years ago I had the opportunity and the privilege to visit Fiji on a short-term mission trip with a group of ministry students.  That trip remains one of the defining experiences of my ministerial life and I could tell you story after story of the amazing things that I either saw or got to be a part of.  But don't worry, I won't.  I do, however, have a story from that trip I'd like to share that has nothing to do with the ministry we were involved in on that trip.  It didn't happen during prayer, during a church service, during an evening event, or even during a meal.  It happened in a van.

The group was using two vans to get around and the van I was in was usually driven by one of our group members rather than by a Fijian local.  We were headed back to our Hotel for the night and speeding our way down a long, dark, single lane highway.  As our driver continued on, we noticed up ahead, a dog laying in the road.  We couldn't tell if it was dead or alive so to avoid it, our driver drifted over to the right in the lane of traffic headed in the opposite direction. (They drive on the left side of the road in Fiji and using the oncoming traffic lane to pass is perfectly legal there.)  As he swerved over, he noticed an oncoming car and so he sped up to try to get passed the dog before having to move back into the left lane thus avoiding a head-on collision. Despite what I am 50% sure was his best effort to avoid the dog, our driver was unable to pick up enough speed to avoid both the dog and the oncoming car.  He was forced to get back into the left lane just in time to run the dog over at a high speed.  Now, i can't be certain because it was so dark but I think the van managed to twist the dog in half.  If the animal was alive before we hit it, it sure wasn't anymore.  We named the dog Max.  When we got back to the hotel, you could see some of the remains of Max's innards on the wheel wells of the van.  It was very disturbing but we managed to make a joke out of it the rest of our trip.

I tell this story because I think our lives are like it more often than we think.  Max was in our way. We tried to avoid him but it just wasn't possible without risking the safety of the 8 people in the van.  So we hit him square on and at full speed.  We all have obstacles throughout our life and sometimes we can avoid them.  But other times... we simply have to hit them head on and at full speed.  Because if we don't, then the obstacle wins and hold us back from getting where we want to go.

I don't know where any of you are at in life really.  But i can promise you that if there isn't a dog laying in the road ahead of you right now, there will be soon.  Who knows what it'll be?  A relational obstacle, a spiritual obstacle, a financial obstacle, an emotional obstacle, or even a self-inflicted obstacle.  Whatever it is, you must be prepared to hit it head on and at full speed.  By all means try to avoid it.  Serve out of the way.  But something issues and problems and obstacles in life cannot be avoided and if that is the case; push the pedal down and and twist the obstacle in half.  The bump may be load and send you out of your seat and, like it was with Max, things may get messy.  But it might be the only way move forward and get to where you want to go.

In Philippians, Paul tells us to "not be anxious about anything."  Anxiety has a way of eating away at your joy.  It blocks out anything good that happens to be going on in your life so all you can see is the obstacle in front of you.  But Paul reminds us that worry and anxiety will get us nowhere.  That all it will do is overwhelm us chew up our hope and our joy.  This is not what God wants for us.

Some obstacles are unavoidable.  They're there in front of us and swerving right or left to go around them is simply not an option.  Even if we didn't put it there, sometimes Max is just unavoidable.  So I say hit it.  Hit it head on and at full speed.  The bump will be big but will end.  If it throws you out of your seat you will eventually come back down.  If it gets messy you can clean it up later.  Hit it head on and then watch it fade away behind you as you continue moving forward.

P.S.

I have kept the drivers name anonymous in case there are animal lovers out there who would seek to exact vengeance on  him for Max's death.

P.P.S.

This blog post is dedicated in memoriam of Max the dog.  Thanks for giving all of us in that van an experience we won't forget.  Rest in peace boy. Rest in peace.