Today I had to go to Denver to pick up my daughters. I love driving and it started out promising. The sun was shining and the roads were clear. Just as I left the city the clouds closed in on me. I could hardly see the car in front of me and the wind was blowing snow across the road. I couldn't turn back, I had to get my girls picked up. I didn't know what the roads were going to be like in front of me but I knew I had to trust God did. I prayed a quick prayer. I'm really not quite sure what I prayed. I was so focused on keeping the car on the road I couldn't focus on anything else. I said something about taking control and helping me find the right path. I passed a number of accidents, one had just happened and the emergency vehicles were behind me coming up to the scene. I felt a surreal sense of peace. One one hand I was tense, and nervous with my hands clutching the wheel and yet I also felt like I wasn't in control I was simply at the wheel. As I neared Denver I saw another accident blocking the left lanes. I slowed to veer around it and as I did the fire truck blared his horn and angled out behind me. They had just shut the highway down, I was the last one through until the accident was cleaned up. I couldn't believe how close that had been. God's timing is impeccable, that was the only thing I could think of. True to Colorado weather patterns that change in the blink of the eye this storm suddenly cleared right after I hit the city lines. I breathed a lot easier after I got off the highway and once I had my girls back in my care again. We enjoyed the rest of the now sunny day driving around Denver.
Driving home on that same stretch that was now sunny, dry and clear I was thinking how differently it could've turned out. I learned to drive in Michigan weather. What if I had put my trust in my abilities instead? It reminded me of the story about Jesus calming the storm. I can relate to the disciples when they were in the boat during the storm. They were raised at sea and were professional fisherman. Why shouldn't they be able to control the boat in the storm? Why would they need to wake Jesus since they had everything under control. Yet, they didn't have it under control, they were in danger of sinking and couldn't save themselves. They needed Jesus. Often in our daily lives we want to be in control, make the decisions and plot out the course for our lives. The problem is we can't. We don't have the big picture, we don't know the future. God does and if we allow Him to take control our journey will be better. He never promised easy, just He'd bare our burdens. He never promised no problems, just that through it all we could have peace. Peace in the storms of life knowing He was in control. Just like He slept peacefully in that boat knowing He was in His Father's care we can travel life's roads peacefully knowing we are in His care too.
