Protection

It had been a planned trip for several weeks, and there were about ten of us who were to get together for a sorority reunion in Austin. I knew the weather was going to be bad but some were coming in from Dallas and others meeting up at my place, so when 8:00 am rolled around on Wednesday and the rain had stopped here, my friend Grace and I loaded up and were on our way. We had been driving about 40 minutes on I-10 and the rains started coming down hard and in just a few minutes of time, it became blinding. A yellow triangular light came on on my dashboard that I guess signaled traction hazard, so I slowed down but we kept on moving. In a moment's blink, we saw a pick up truck directly in front of us begin to swerve, gain momentum, make a 360 uncontrolled zig zag turn across the highway and we were headed right towards it, and the only way to avoid a collision was to try to head toward the grass. I tapped my brakes, held the steering wheel firmly, and tried to get to the grass, but now my car was hydroplaning right towards the median. We were both calm, trying to grasp the situation, eyes looking forward and around, and knew the metal marker on the grass was sure to be the instrument that would slow us to a crash stop, but in a flash all was calm , we were stopped, front wheels on the grass, back ones on the shoulder and we had escaped without blemish.

We couldn't talk for a minute and then began to process what had just happened. Where was the truck? What happened to that marker? The truck landed at a stop, parallel and tightly hugging the center cement median, turned around facing the traffic, and pretty banged up for it hit it a couple of times. There was an 18 wheeler who had stopped on the shoulder a few yards back from where we were stopped and it appeared that no other cars had had incident. Truly amazing in itself. The metal marker bordering the grassy median between the frontage road and the highway was still in place and somehow we had avoided, what we thought was to be, a certified encounter. Only by the grace of God were we rescued.
The driver of the 18 wheeler got out of the truck in the pouring rain, put on his orange and yellow safety vest and stood on the edge of the highway signaling for people to slow down. We exited the freeway, and turned back down the feeder to get even with him, rolled down the window and he screamed are you all ok? We answered yes and he made some comment as to you all were spinning pretty good. I grabbed Grace's umbrella and trudged through the grassy medium towards the highway to ask him if he knew if the person in the truck was ok and also to see if he had called for emergency help. He said he had communicated with them and they were ok and the police and ambulance were on their way. I thanked him for his service and got back in the car, fairly wet, and we waited until we saw the lights, watched as the guy with the 18 wheeler climbed back into his truck, we made a u-turn and headed back to the highway, and we both were back underway.

Grace and I were fairly quiet for a while, still processing what just happened and what could have happened. Thinking, how one moment could change so many things. But we continued to question the marker. It was in our path, what happened to it? How did we possible miss it? And we decided that we had a pretty strong angel that just pushed us by it. My husband had prayed that morning for our safety and did press upon me the need to drive safely, maybe that too had something to do with our escape. But whatever the details were that were before us, I thank God for that little yellow warning light....for we had already slowed down.

We can do our best to try to control situations about us but sometimes things come at us so unexpectedly and with such quickened force that we immediately realize that we are not in control even if we are doing all the right things. All we can do is react with what we have already planted within our response system and according to the discipline that we have set within us. Some panic, some are calm, some close their eyes, some become paralyzed, and some signal an immediate prayer plea for help to God. Our prayers may not have been coherent to even us, but God knew our thoughts, even though they may have been jumbled at the time, and we were counting on him for sure.

The only preparation that we can have for the unexpected is the built in knowledge that though we are not in control God is. We need to just slow down the anxiety, gently tap the brakes of our emotions, grip the situation loosely, make whatever adjustments that we can that might be relevant, and brace ourselves with trust in Christ for an impact that may be before us.

Christ stands ready and he is prepared for what he knows is to come. But the question is, are we? What armor do we have stored up in our response artillery? What truths have we built in to our subconscious that is activated by our conscious? Grace and I were blessed this day by God's grace. And when the skidding was over and we had come to a stop, we both knew in that instant that God was with us. But I had to consider what if the circumstances would have been different? What if we would have been in what could have been a most tragic pile up? Would I still have have been so confident that God was with us? And my answer is yes because I know and believe with all my heart that there is nothing that God does not oversee or allow. As it is with all our lives, and every circumstance that is before us.

Lessons like these are such a strong reminder to me to appreciate each day for just what it is, to appreciate God for his protection, his provisions and his presence and appreciate the people who God has allowed to be a part of my life, all of them, not just the ones who are fun and pleasant to be around. For God works his lessons through all things and all people, if we pay attention and are willing to be open enough to accept them for who they are as Go's children And life is fleeting just as moments are. And one moment can be life changing. We are called to give it our best, and allow God to help us be our best, one unexpected moment at a time.

We did get to Austin safely and being with long time friends and seeing how our lives had evolved was a true blessing in itself. But one thing that someone brought up at lunch was that when we were in college, hardly any of us attended church regularly or much less had a personal relationship with Christ, but through the years God has reached out to every one of us and brought us to himself. And now I can truly say that every single one of us is faithfully committed to loving Jesus Christ and depending on him for his wisdom, strength and grace. We were bonded in friendship years ago, but this overnight stay showed us that we now were also bonded in his love.

Psalm 40:11
Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD; may your love and faithfulness always protect me
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Dear Lord, Thank you for holding onto us when the roads of life are slippery and we realize that we are totally out of control. Guard us with your protection and gird us with a faithful confidence that you never take your eyes from us in any of our situations, nor will you ever leave us alone to figure out solutions to unexpected events as well as our programmed daily routines. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!