Wall

I had been warned a few miles back but thought surely I can make it to the next exit so I pushed it. Mel caught a ride home with friends and I had stayed in Austin for a few extra days to oversee the workmen and meet with contractors. So when the time came to head home I was in his car.  I am not quite so familiar with his gas gage and how many miles I actually could drive after the warning, so I kind of knew I was at risk. Sure enough I rounded the curve on 71 and made it to I -10 but after only a few yards, the puttering began, the engine cut off and I was in coast mode. I had figuratively hit a wall and either needed some help, or had to figure out how to compensate for my lack of preventative gain. I came to a complete halt on the narrow straight of the bridge and knew I was not in a good place. So, I waited for a break in traffic and began to push to get on the other side of the bridge so that I could be deeper into the bordering shoulder’s edge. Now let me just stop a minute and say, I know this might be a nightmare for many of you, while others would never ever let this happen, but to me things like this are pure adventure and I cannot wait to see how God will intervene.  

I could see the gas station, it was about a mile up the road, and this was very doable, but I prayed first, waited a couple of minutes and who shows up but a small red truck with two Spanish speaking workmen who have just come from a job in San Antonio. I knew just enough to communicate but we all knew what I needed: gas! Even though I was on the side of the road, it would be very inconvenient to have to get gas, come back around the freeway, u-turn etc, so I spotted a service road on the other side of the shoulder and thought I can roll down the embankment and there the car will be safe and my new friends would not have to be any more inconvenienced than they already were. It was a piece of cake, and all was well within ten minutes.  

Did I learn my lesson? Probably not, for this was not the first time I had run out of gas, nor would it be the last, but what I did recognize is that at some point we do hit walls, that make us stop in our tracks. Sometimes out of exhaustion, sometimes because we have run out of viable options, and sometimes we have taken on so much on our plates that we have run completely dry of motivation and energy. That is when we need to be refilled. We have been stopped for a reason, and it is God’s reason. Often times we can figure out how to refill our tanks on our own, but oh so often a little bit help is of great encouragement to get us up and going and on track again. 

Refills are not just physical necessities but so they are mental and spiritual ones as well.  We needed a funnel of some sort to keep the gasoline tunneled into the tank. I didn’t even consider reading the directions on my two gallon plastic gas container to figure out  how to pop out the center of the main cap to encase the attached funnel. And neither of them could read but handily Manny had a funnel in his truck and we used that.  I later got verbal/visual directions from the gas attendant. But thinking about that funnel.  When we hit a wall we too need a funnel to insure that God's good stuff makes it into the very tank of our hearts and minds so that it can generate a new starting point.  Some of you are good readers and the information and directions that God has given us can sink right in, others of us need a visual/audio presentation for us to "get it” and seep in.  

When we are faced with a wall stopping experience, it is not a time to retreat into despair, it is a time to not only call on God for help and faithfully believe that His help is on its way, but accept help. For God is the only one who can truly sustain any of us. Sure we can try to go at the hard stuff alone but too many times we find that we are dealing with something that is literally over our heads, and God, in his ultimate vision and with his never-ending solutions is available to help us out at any time in any situation. 

If you are running low on gas, probably best to use preventative recourse and fill up, physically mentally and spiritually.  Find a spot to stop on your own before you hit the wall, and fill up with God’s promises, God’s provisions, God’s power, and God’s heavenly authority over all living things, and commit to faithfully count on his help even when you think you are doing fine on your own.  There are blessings and joyful adventures amidst our everyday routines and if only we will trust God in all things, we too can even hit a wall of resistance and still be at peace in knowing the outcome is in God’s hands. 

Psalm 54:4

Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

Psalm 40:16

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!” 

Dear Lord, I just love knowing you are overseeing my every move, and even when I blunder and use bad judgement you can work through it as long as I maintain an attitude of trust and hope. Walls may seem to be immovable but I know, and have learned from experience upon experience that when I am confronted with a wall stopping adventure, you either help me find a way around it, above it or through it and lovingly and gently get me to the other side.  Thank you. Amen                              

 

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