Wisdom-Trek / Creating a LegacyWelcome to Day 1344 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to WisdomThe Guardrails of Life – Meditation MondayWisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1344 of our Trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy. For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, Meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and in prayer. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and making sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind.


 This may appear a stupid question to consider, but what are the purposes of guardrails alongside the road? Let us consider:


The Guardrails of LifeCome along with me on a road trip in your mind, and ponder for a moment the following scenario.  Say we are driving along a curvy mountain road on a snowy day, and you suddenly lose control and smash into the Guardrail, which damages the front of your car and leaves a big scrape down the side, before you come to a stop. As you get out and look over the situation and assess the damage to your car, you peer over the Guardrail and see a steep 1000 foot drop on the other side with a raging river at the bottom.  What would your reaction be? Would you curse the Guardrail for ruining your car? I doubt that many of us would have that thought, but instead, we would be abundantly thankful for the Guardrail, for sure, it saved your life. The car can always be fixed or replaced, which is only a temporary inconvenience in comparison to losing your life.Life serves up a lot of unexpected, and most of the time, unwanted challenges. How do we view them? Do we curse the Guardrail, or are we thankful for its salvation? In many unexpected problems, we look only to the short term inconvenience instead of the long term blessings. Just as I have experienced financial crises that impacted us significantly and severe illness of our very young granddaughter, maybe you have experienced what seems like a tragedy in your life. Perhaps for you, it was a lost job, a failed marriage, a chronic disease, bankruptcy, unfulfilled dreams, accidental death in the family, or deep betrayal of a close friend or loved one.


In those circumstances, it is easy to lash out and blame God or others. Even when it seems your world is falling apart, it is helpful to try and look at the big picture. Cursing your circumstances, or God, is like cursing the Guardrail, which saved you from something much worse. Take comfort in knowing that God loves you, and that even though circumstances can be excruciating, He will see you through the hard times.  Romans 8:18 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A18&version=NLT) tells us, Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. If we explore that passage further, it gives us more insight. Although Romans 8:28 is many times misquoted or taken out of context, when we take into consideration the verses that surround it, we can understand it better.


Let me read Romans 8:26-30 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A26-30&version=NLT)...