I hit a pothole the other day—not just any pothole, but one of those cavernous, center-of-the-earth craters left behind after a brutal winter. The kind that swallows your tire, jolts the whole car, and makes you question whether you still have an axle. It came out of nowhere—one second, I was cruising along, and the next, I was holding my breath, bracing for the worst. Isn’t that just like life? We go through stretches where everything seems steady, and then—bam!—something unexpected knocks us off course. A diagnosis. A job loss. A betrayal. A grief so deep it feels like the ground has opened up beneath us. The road we thought was solid suddenly feels treacherous, and we wonder how we’ll move forward.
Jesus reminds us in John 16:33 (NRSV), "I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!" He never promised us a smooth road. He didn’t say we’d avoid the potholes of life. Instead, He assured us that when we hit them—when we feel like we’re free-falling into the unknown—He has already overcome whatever threatens to break us. Just like potholes force us to slow down and pay attention, life's deepest struggles can be moments where we lean on Jesus, trusting that He is still guiding us, even when the road ahead looks uncertain.
Maybe life’s potholes aren’t just obstacles—they’re invitations. Invitations to trust when we don’t have answers, to keep going even when the path feels broken. Just like a car that needs realignment after slamming into a crater, sometimes we need to realign our priorities, our faith, and our trust in God. The road may not always be smooth, but we don’t travel it alone. And when we hit those deep, jarring moments, we can take heart—because even when the road fails us, Jesus never will.