Tales From the Road

One thing we missionaries all have plenty of, is, tales from the road.  For most of us, we drive all over to raise our support.  For our family, that meant driving all the way up to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, and then to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, on the west coast; and then to Chihuahua, Mexico, to the south; and then to Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, to the east.  Since my husband is a second generation missionary kid, this was the second deputation for him.  There is only one state in the continental US that he hasn’t been to.  My guess is you all know what I’m talking about.  Then there are the furloughs where we retrace the steps we made on deputation and take some new steps to shore up the support we lost.  Then there are the tales of the roads in the countries where we serve.  Yikes.  Nuff’ said. 

Today, I want to share a tale from the road.  I know we all have them, so I hope you don’t feel this one is a waste of your time.  The Lord used it in my life to assure me at a time I really needed it.

We were driving in El Paso during a rain storm. For those of you who have done that, you know that the roads turn into rivers.  Incredible.  I’d never seen anything like it.  Finally, after crawling through the city, we get out to the interstate.  Traffic is moving fairly quickly, and we sail along for a couple of miles.  We head over an overpass.  Just as we head over the overpass, we see that the traffic is sitting on the interstate; and we have just enough time to brake, so we don’t rear-end the last vehicle in the line.  To the right there is a merge lane.  Suddenly my husband, who is driving, pulls the van sharply right into the oncoming path of a vehicle which is merging from the right.  This vehicle blares it’s horn at us and swerves by us, narrowly missing us. Yikes!  I turn to blast my husband for trying to kill me and my babies.  As I turn to blast him, I look through the driver’s window to see a loaded semi-trailer sitting right where we had just been.  This semi had come flying over the overpass, and didn’t have any time to get stopped.  My husband, had anticipated that this might happen, and so was watching his rear-view mirror, for any vehicles that might come over the top too fast. He pulled our van out of the way just in time to avoid being rear-ended ourselves, and possibly causing a chain reaction collision that certainly would have included others sitting on that interstate that day.  My husband and the semi driver exchanged big smiles and thumbs up, and we carried on our merry way.  

There have been many times where there have been things happen in my life that scared me to death.  I doubted God, and wondered if He was trying to kill or maim me and/or my family.  That is doubting the very heart of God.  Pretty arrogant isn’t it?  My husband wasn’t trying to kill me or my babies – he was saving us from being killed or maimed.  Sometimes we pray for God to make things clear to us or to give us wisdom in a certain area.  Sometimes what God reveals to us is painful to see.  Maybe the character of people we respected is revealed to us and we are heart broken.  Maybe God lets us see this in order to protect us. Truth is, we very well may not see it on this side. Farther along we’ll know all about it. Let’s just have the faith to rest in the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  As humans, we love to complicate our lives.  It is almost as if we think that, if our lives are complex and complicated, they have more value.  Or at least they are more sophisticated.  Let’s just simply trust the Lord with childlike faith that what He says He means – that what He says is true.  Whatever He has allowed into your life, He brought for your good.  It is an opportunity for you to give Him glory by the way you handle it.  Count it all joy!