Rubber... Road...

Holly Younghans
Oct 24, 2024
7 min read

Holly MacDonald Younghans

Oct 23, 2024

I was recently reminded that it is so very easy to say one has faith and is full of joy when the trajectory one is following is pleasant, or at least positive, headed in the “right” direction. It is a very different thing to believe that what you believe is really real when that trajectory takes a sudden and unexpected turn that is neither pleasant nor positive, at least in that moment.

And that “moment” can last a very long time. Or not. We never know; we just want it to END, preferably happily ever after. Those verses that tell us to “count it all joy” when we suffer are real and true and hard to do. No rhyme intended.

So what do we do when the defecation hits the rotating oscillator and we’re standing there splattered in the mess and wondering what just happened? Our home has been destroyed by fire, flood, or mud. A thief has broken in and stolen everything away. Someone we love suddenly dies. Our spouse or partner walks out on us. We’ve been diagnosed with something terrible. We lose a job. We lose the future we had planned.

It hurts. It really does. There’s no pretending otherwise and those who tell you to “buck up, tomorrow will be better, God’s got you, etc., mean well, but often forget that grief of any kind is a very personal journey and platitudes, however well intentioned, don’t help. At least not at first.

I don’t know about you, but my initial response to those kinds of negative life-altering events skips right over the “denial” stage of the grief process right into anger and then depression. It’s never linear is it? And it’s never a one-time pass. Processing such things typically involves cycles, over time, through one or more of those stages of grief.

My immediate response is usually, “Why? Why did you let this happen, God? Are you punishing me? What did I do wrong?” And so on and so on and so on. He rarely, if ever, answers those questions. What he does say is substantial and we’ll get into that in a moment. The question is, when these things happen, how does our faith REALLY hold up when the rubber of our relationship with Jesus meets the road of life?

Dr. Del Tackett asked it best, “Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?”[i] Read that sentence out loud a few times and emphasize the “really” words. I think a lot of Christians don’t actually believe that what we say we believe is really real because the truth is revealed in our responses to life’s major curve balls.

What does this colloquial figure of speech, “where the rubber meets the road,” actually mean? Well, the internet tells us that this phrase refers to “where the important facts or realities lie; where theory is put into practice.”[ii] What are the important facts and realities when it comes to God and what he says about such times in our lives? Let’s take a look.

I AM/WILL BE WITH YOU… ALWAYS.

There are many, many verses on this subject alone. Here are some highlights (emphasis added).

Address	Statement of Fact
Isaiah 41:10	Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Joshua 1:9	Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Zephaniah 3:17	The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Matthew 28:20	Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Deuteronomy 31:8	It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Psalm 23:1-4	The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 139:7	Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

Romans 5:5	And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 8:37-39	No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 46:7	The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

HOLD ON TO ME… LET GO OF WHATEVER “IT” IS THAT ISN’T ME.

“Let go and hold on” could be an entirely separate post on the subject of trust that I will write later. Meanwhile, here is the truth out of God’s own word (emphasis added).

Address	Statement of Fact
Ephesians 6:10	Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

1 Corinthians 15:58	Therefore, my dearly loved brothers, stand firm [in the faith]; do not be moved [from your commitment]. Always do your best to work for the Lord, since you know that your labor in the Lord's [service] is not for nothing.

Zechariah 4:6	“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Proverbs 3:5-6	Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Psalm 37:5	Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

1 Peter 5:7	Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Psalm 56:3	When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

John 14:1	“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

Isaiah 26:3-4	You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

1 Chronicle 16:11	Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Matthew 16:25	If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

DO THIS WHILE YOU WAIT FOR ME TO WORK.

There are many, many verses on this subject as well, but I think one verse in particular rather sums up everything else. It is Romans 12:12 and it offers a three-step response to those defecation moments:

1. Rejoice in hope this isn’t all there is… you have an eternity in front of you/us… hold on to that hope and rejoice that you have it…not everyone does.

2. Be patient in tribulation – Jesus is pretty clear that trials and tribulation are a part of life this side of heaven… hold on and know that he IS with you and he IS in control and he WILL work all things together for your good, IF you are called and walking in his purpose

3. Persevere in prayer – this gets said over and over and over again… it’s just like Dory saying, “just keep swimming.”[iii]

I recently experienced one of those defecation moments not too long ago and it caught me totally by surprise. I had a plan, I thought I was on a good trajectory, but God allowed me to be summarily deemed “strategically irrelevant” and I was laid off from a job I enjoyed, working with people that I love, doing kingdom work all over the world. Boom. Just like that. It hurt. A lot. It still does. I imagine that it will for a while.

However, these past three weeks have revealed my heart in ways that I have had to deal with, particularly on this subject of REALLY believing that what I say I believe is REALLY real. I had to put the “theory” of my faith into practice. When you read all those verses above, and so many more, back to back to back, it has an impact that cannot be denied, though many of us are guilty of ignoring the evidence. We’d rather shake our fist at the universe, swim in our sorrow, and complain, or give up.

God says it over and over and over again: I am with you, focus on me, persevere in faith, hope, and prayer. It’s a simple collection of truths that each of us has to decide, for REAL, that we truly believe and then act on that decision accordingly, even in the midst of hurt, where the rubber of our lives meets the road of our walk with God: we either skid and slide and wreck, or we grip and go on. God’s got you. Do you have him? Really?