When you think of the perils of living in Montana, you imagine blizzards, hypothermia, or Glacier Park’s Night of the Grizzlies. But there is a subtler danger that occurs in the spring.
No lines.
Snow and muck and plows work against the roads for weeks on end, until one day everything melts, and we find there are no longer demarcations. Just yesterday, I was merging onto a highway and thought, Oh my word, I guess I’ll just make up my own lane and hope I’m in the right place.
A sure sign of spring in Montana is a paint-striping truck making its way slowly down the roads. God bless that road crew.
And thank God for the security of lines—bold, bright, thick ones.
Because I don’t want to live all over the place with a bunch of other people who are living all over the place. So I look to the Bible, which is God’s version of a paint truck after a Montana winter.
Do not lie.
Do not take what’s not yours.
Do not sleep with someone who’s not your spouse.
Do not kill anybody, with sword or tongue.
Rest and worship at the end of the week.
Put all your hope in the one and only God.
Be kind.
Only say words that build.
Don’t store up treasures on earth.
Give thanks in all circumstances.
Do good.
Feed the hungry.
Pray always.
Sing to the Lord.
If you feel like you’re living on a highway with no markings, with a dread that any time now you’re going to crash, what you need is the bright, wide yellow of God’s word painted as fresh and unmistakable borders for your life.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105).
I pray you will open your Bible and welcome the do’s and don’ts. May God clearly show you right from wrong and make obvious to you the lane that leads straight to the good life. {eoa}
Christy Fitzwater is the author of A Study of Psalm 25: Seven Actions to Take When Life Gets Hard. She is a blogger, pastor’s wife and mom of two teenagers and resides in Montana. Visit christyfitzwater.com for more information about her ministry.
