This summer I spent a month taking a 5,000 mile road trip!

As I drove alone for 5,000 miles, a number of ideas popped into my head. Now that I’m back in San Jose, I’m turning them into blogs.

As I drove, I quickly noticed that it was taking me much longer to reach my destinations than my GPS predicted.

Why?

Some of the delays were out of my control.

Traffic jams. Sometimes from entire lanes and ramps being shut down by accidents.

Lower speeds. Sometimes from bad weather. But mostly from construction zones that stretched for miles. With constant reminders that fines for speeding would be doubled.

But some of the delays were caused by things that were within my control.

Missed signs. I didn’t see and understand the signs telling me where to go. So I made a wrong turn.

Distractions. I stopped to get a cup of coffee. I stayed to consume a meal and dessert! So I wasted time.

I thought about how these delays paralleled the types of “delays” in our fruitfulness that Jesus warned against in his Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15).

Some delays arose when I missed a sign or misread it.

These mishaps illustrated what Jesus said about seed sown “along the path.” “[B]irds came and ate it up.” (Matthew 13:4).

Jesus explained that this part of the Parable meant: “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom [of heaven] and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.” (Matthew 13:19).

Fortunately, I didn’t miss many signs. Usually it was when I was tired. Either searching for my hotel in the dark at the end of the day. Or getting back on the Interstate at the beginning of the day before my coffee kicked in!

Similarly, there are many reasons we may not hear and understand a specific part of the Word and its message about the kingdom of heaven. But often, we are simply tired.

We may be physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. We may be tired of hearing the same message over and over again in church. Or we may be tired because our love has grown cold.

I think this problem of being too tired to hear the Word—the message about the kingdom of heaven—has increased dramatically during the past year or so. We’re tired of Covid. We’re tired of politics. We’re tired of racism. We’re tired of bad news.

No wonder that, because of the increase of wickedness, the love of so many has grown tired and cold. (Matthew 24:12).

Some delays arose when I encountered events outside my control such as traffic jams and construction zones.

These mishaps illustrated what Jesus said about seed “falling on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.” (Matthew 13:5-6).

Jesus explained: “The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” (Matthew 13:20-21).

This explanation of the wisdom of the Parable focuses on people’s lives in their totality.

But it is also helpful to focus on how the wisdom of the Parable applies to specific mishaps people encounter throughout their lives:

—to many different aspects of their personality;

—at many different times and places; and

—under many different facts and circumstances.

For example, even as great a prophet as Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal in triumph, yet gave up in despair a few days later. (1 Kings 18:19-19:7) (See my blog “Establishing Justice: Depression and Acceptance—Elijah”).

When applying the wisdom of this Parable, keep in mind that the whole point is that troubles and persecutions must not stop us from producing a good crop of righteousness.

Instead, we often moan and whine about all our troubles and persecutions—as if they are excuses for our delays and failures.

Nevertheless, in all these things we should be “more than conquerors through him who loved us. For . . . neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39).

Furthermore, despite our moaning and whining about troubles and persecutions, those of us privileged to be living in the United States of America encounter very few troubles and persecutions from hearing the Word and its message about the kingdom.

Certainly, very few of us encounter troubles and persecutions comparable to those encountered by Jesus and the early church—or to those troubles and persecutions being encountered by Christians in Afghanistan at this very time.

For example, earlier on the same day that Jesus taught this Parable, his mother and brothers were so worried about his safety that they tried to get him to stop his public statements and actions. (Matthew 12:46-13:23; Mark 3:20-21,31-35).

His mother and brothers had good reasons to worry.

Their relative, John the Baptist, was already imprisoned by Herod. (Matthew 11:2). Soon, Herod would behead John the Baptist. (Matthew 14:1-12).

Religious leaders were already plotting how they could kill Jesus. (Matthew 12:14). Soon, religious and political leaders would unite to torture and crucify Jesus.

By this standard, few of us in the United States are facing troubles or persecutions for hearing the Word and its message about the kingdom of heaven.

For few of us have yet resisted to the point of shedding our own blood (Hebrews 12:4), except for martyrs who die from lynching or police brutality, and for heroes such as activists, nurses, doctors, police, and soldiers who die to secure our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

Nor are we encountering troubles and persecutions comparable to those the Apostle Paul encountered when he declared that in all things we are more than conquerors through the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 28:37-39).

As Paul summarized in a letter to the church in Corinth:

I have worked much harder [than my opponents who are perverting the gospel], been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a day and a night in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. (2 Corinthians 11:23-27).

Now, THOSE are troubles and persecutions for hearing the Word and its message about the kingdom of heaven!

In addition, Paul lived for a number of years after he had already faced so many troubles and persecutions. We know he was imprisoned for many of those years. We know he was shipwrecked at least one more time.

Eventually, Paul was beheaded.

Nevertheless, Paul persevered.

Near the end of his life, Paul could rejoice: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7).

And so, although it is terrible that Christians are being beheaded in Afghanistan by the Taliban and their supporters, we are confident that they, too, will be more than conquerors through the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We can be confident that—despite their troubles and persecutions—they, too, will persevere.

They too will fight the good fight.

They too will finish the race,

They too will keep the faith!

So much for our moaning and whining about our “troubles” and “persecutions” when we are delayed by “traffic jams” and “construction zones”!

So much for delays caused by “distractions” and “missed signs” that waste our time along the Way.

When driving White Lightning, these distractions included stopping for “coffee” and stretching a “coffee break” into a “meal”.

Why?

Because I was like the seed in this Parable that “fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.” (Matthew 13:7).

As Jesus explained: “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth [and the desires for other things] choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:19).

Notice an important difference between the troubles-and-persecutions and the worries-deceitfulness-and-desires.

The troubles-and-persecutions arise from hearing the Word or the message about the kingdom of heaven.

The worries-deceitfulness-and-desires can arise from anything. They aren’t limited to worries, deceitfulness and desires arising from hearing the Word or its message about the kingdom of heaven.

They include additional types of distractions that Jesus warned us against in his Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus said:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. . . . .

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money

Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:19-25).

We can each apply these principles taught by Jesus to construct a personalized list of distractions that choke our lives.

Because each of us is distracted in specific ways by worries, by the deceitfulness of wealth, and by other things we desire.

Furthermore, these distractions can change at different times in our lives, and under different facts and circumstances that arise.

In school, we may be worried about grades, deceived into thinking we need the latest video game, and desire our first kiss with the girl we love.

In middle age, we may be worried about the health and safety of our children. We may be deceived into thinking we need a more prestigious car. And we may desire a new spouse—a “trophy” who is richer and sexier than our previous partners.

In old age, we may be worried about our declining health. We may be deceived into thinking we need a more prestigious retirement community. And we may desire faithful family members who would help us to overcome our fears and our loneliness.

All these worries, deceits, and desires are distractions that choke our hearing and understanding of the Word and of its message about the kingdom of heaven.

All these worries, deceits and desires are “missed signs”, “traffic jams” and “construction zones” that delay us along the Way, preventing our lives becoming “good soil”—lives that produce a crop of righteousness “yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23).

Because, if we make the Word and its message about the kingdom of heaven our first priority and our only priority, then the amazing grace of God will yield crops of righteousness in our lives and in the lives of those who we love—including “coffee breaks”!

Crops of righteousness will be given to us if we drive the Way of Jesus diligently without delays or distractions—if we have only one God in our life and if we love this LORD our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:37-38).

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For additional thoughts arising from my 5,000 mile road trip in White Lightning, please read my blogs “Lightning from East to West” and “Directions Along the Way”.