Dead End, the sign read. I had been driving around this neighborhood and ending up here at this exact place for at least an hour. Straining my eyes to see the address, that had been written down on a bar napkin, I was sure it had to be somewhere close by. 2347 Highland Drive. But that could not be right. I was sitting at what had to be the end of Highland Drive and the last house had been 2237. There must be another street by the same name or there had to be another section of this road somewhere else. It probably made no difference any more. I had been a half hour late when I arrived in the neighborhood and with the time I had spent looking, my opportunity must be gone. The guy I was seeking to meet must have left. Another waste of time.
As I sat thinking and was about to turn the car around one last time, I noticed headlights coming my way. Must be someone who lived in one of these houses just behind of where I was parked. Wrong again. As the car drew closer it lit up red and blue, great, a cop car.
Now I was panicked, I was holding about an 1/8 a gram of speed and there was no place to ditch it. Still maybe I could shove it in the lining of the trucks seat cover and then hope for the best. Grabbing under the seat I tried not to look too suspicious. I did not want the cops to think I was reaching for a gun or anything. Slowly I slipped the baggie up and tucked it near the seat belt just as I heard a car door open and could see an officer approaching in my driver’s side rearview mirror. He stopped near the taillight of my truck and in the glow of it I saw his hand was on his holster. I raised both of my hands and settled them on the steering wheel where he could see them, shouting over my shoulder through the driver’s side window I said, “I am unarmed! What is the problem?”
I looked in the passenger’s side mirror in time to see while I had been distracted with the one cop, another had moved silently to the passenger’s door and now turned on an enormous flash light, lighting up the entire interior of the truck. Keeping my hands on the steering wheel I lowered my head to cut the glare and heard a voice through the open driver’s window, “Son, don’t move till I tell you, I am going to open this door and ask you to step out of the truck slowly… keeping those hands where I can see them.” The rest happened quickly, as I got out, hands raised I was turned and leaned against the truck cab and searched. By then both cops were in front of me. Again, I asked, “What is the problem? I am lost and have been looking for an address but haven’t been doing anything.” The cop who had frisked me now was looking inside my truck. Under the seats and in the glove box, while the other held the light on me, they did not speak. Finally, the cop leaned back out of the truck with my registration. “Are you John Weston? Is this your truck?” As I nodded, I could feel sweat running down my back. As I glanced into the truck in the bright light, I could see a corner of the baggie with my drugs poking out near the seat belt buckle. Raising my head toward the sky and out of the glaring flashlight, I saw the Dead End sign again. “Yeah,” I thought, “ain’t this perfect? No where to run, no where to hide…my life keeps ending up right here. Another dead end!”
I’ve written a lot of blogs about my messed-up life and how accepting Jesus has changed it, I guess that is what I do. Every one of those stories were about dead ends because that was my life. Like in the story I am sharing today, my life was me wandering in the dark in search of something, I never was sure of what, and of course never finding what I was seeking. Coming to the realization I was at the Dead End sign again. Drugs, alcohol, sex and all the worldly pleasures are so enticing, yet every one of them is the real ‘dead end’ better known as death.
I am sure I could quote all kinds of statistics, but I think God’s Word says it best, “For the wages of sin is death…” that is from the book of Romans. And if it ended there a guy like me would always be at a dead end forever and so would you, but there is hope because the second part of that same verse says, “…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
When I began to trust in Jesus, all the dead-end roads were now open. Yes, I had to leave behind those things that had kept me wandering and lost. And it took time to find a new and better GPS. Oh, not the one you have in your car or on your phone this GPS stands for “God’s Plan of Salvation” and it is found in His Word. When you have this GPS there are no more dead ends, only roads that lead to eternal life. And it is free because Jesus already paid the price on the cross. How cool is that?
Back at that Dead End sign, I was not arrested. One of the locals had called the cops seeing a strange truck wandering through their neighborhood for over an hour. Once they were satisfied, I had no weapons and was basically harmless, they let me go without searching my truck further. I had been saved again at another dead end in my life, but I was to lost in my addictions to see it at the time. How blessed am I today to know that at all those dead ends there was hope and a new road if I just looked to the one who was already looking for me? If you are at a dead end today, seek Him using a better GPS. With it you can’t miss the road to eternity. It is a sure thing.
Blessings John,
2/18/19
