Needles Highway.
Needles Highway is a breathtaking tunnel blasted through granite rock. Carol shares how it reminded her of our need to trust in God during tough times.
Choosing a Puzzle
Sometimes we choose a puzzle based on the photo without worry about the number of pieces. It resonates with us because it reminds us of a place we visited, would like to go, or a movie we watched. My daughter, Amee, likes to work on a variety of types and sizes of puzzles, including ones representing Disney movies she has enjoyed.
In life, there is so much more than making a puzzle, doing a hobby, working hard, or wishing you could visit some distant place. It takes planning to make a trip and as you plan, you enjoy the anticipation of seeing in real life what you had only envisioned through descriptions or photos.
Driving on the Needles Highway
Brian, Amee, and I took a trip to the Dakotas. We chose to go on a bus tour in the Black Hills, visiting Mount Rushmore and driving on the Needles Highway with its switchbacks, tunnels, and spectacular scenery. As the bus climbed higher on the mountain, the tunnels became narrower and narrower, often having one way traffic going through them.
This meant trusting the bus driver to know the limitations of a huge bus compared to the size of the tunnel. It meant waiting our turn in some places. At the last tunnel before we reached the summit of the road and had an opportunity to stop and take photos, he explained how little clearance the bus would have. Newer buses could not be used due to an extra six inches of width they had been made with. Six inches isn’t very much and yet it meant the new buses could not squeeze through this narrow opening blasted into the rock of the mountain.
A Claustrophobic Tunnel
We entered the tunnel. It felt claustrophobic with rock on the other side of the windows. His mirrors had to be pulled in to give the clearance needed. He stopped in the tunnel as if we were stuck. People waiting for us to exit so they could enter, watched with horrified looks on some of the faces. What if? Might have crossed their minds. Were we stuck? How could we get out? Would the driver be able to back up and not continue the tour?
We fit but barely. The bus bore signs on the outside of times the driver hadn’t lined it up just right and scraped the sides against the rough walls. We escaped the confines of the rock opening thanks to the expert handling of a large bus by an experienced driver.
The Middle of a Crisis
Later at a camp I spoke at, a visiting pastor made a comment that reminded me of this experience. He said, “Don’t get off the train in the tunnel when all feels dark and scary.” We couldn’t have exited that bus in the tunnel if we wanted to. There was no room to open the door or a window, let alone for a person to stand between the vehicle and the rock wall. Yet how often, in the middle of a crisis, a dark moment in our lives, do we want to escape.
Yet if we get off the road to recovery, off the road to a solution to the crisis, or give up on working our way through depression, pain, and anger, it becomes like getting off the train in the tunnel. We dwell in the darkness of the problem instead of focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dim it might seem at the moment.
Hebrews 12: 1, 2a reminds us of where to keep our focus,
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”
Trust in Jesus
No matter how dark and rough life seems, we need to trust Jesus. Ephesians 3: 20,21 is such a wonderful promise that we aren’t in this by ourselves.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
What do you do in a crisis? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Carol Harrison
Listen to Carol’s program Puzzle Pieces Of Life or visit Carol’s website carolscorner.ca
Carol Harrison B.Ed is a speaker and published author with one book, Amee’s Story and stories in twelve anthologies. She is passionate about helping people of all ages and ability levels find their voice and reach their fullest potential.
She knows, through personal experience that some of life’s experiences are tougher than others. Carol encourages people that even in the twists and turns of life God’s amazing grace provides hope.
She lives in Saskatoon, SK with her husband Brian. They have four adult children and a dozen grandchildren.
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Images courtesy of:
Needles Highway – Creative Commons
Tour Bus – pasja1000
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