From time to time, I look back on something and realize that God orchestrated--for lack of a better word--the whole event. Of course, His way is best, even when it frustrates me at the time. As a result, I have learned...AM learning...not to be upset when life's events fail to go how I want them to go. If I let myself get upset, then I stand to be rebuked when/if the Lord chooses to reveal His ways to me.
Several examples (three older and one very recent):
1. The time my family was on a vacation skiing at Lake Tahoe. We were staying in Reno, NV and "commuting" to various Lake Tahoe ski venues. One particular morning, my brother and I hoped to hit the road early to get in a full day of skiing. But we did not get up as planned, the elevator was slow, and the restaurant was none too efficient.
In my memory, all of us were kind of irritated at breakfast. Finally we hit the road, but I noticed that traffic was being diverted off of the freeway we needed to get on. So Dad tried to take local roads around the problem. But as we went, local roads were closed down too.
Finally, we talked to an official at a freeway on-ramp to get the scoop. We realized that something was odd when we saw on the clear blue day that a snowplow was blocking the on-ramp.
Turns out someone had set up overlooking the freeway and had fired shots at vehicles driving by. We came along during the search for the shooter. Thankfully nobody was killed as I remember.
God's guiding: He delayed us so that we were not on the road during the shootings--further, all the vehicles that were hit were white. We were driving a white Ford Explorer.
2. My serious knee injury. My senior year in high school, I tore my ACL and damaged cartilage playing. I was on crutches for a month before having reconstructive surgery. A week after surgery, I was off crutches, but had to wear a brace for longer than most due to my cartilage damage.
Of course, such an injury is not to be desired, but the Lord did a lot for me then. I gained more understanding of His Word during that time. I also learned a little more how to minister to those recovering from surgery/illness/injuries. Less importantly, I learned about the wonders of the human body. I was fascinated by watching the reconstruction, learning about the mechanics of the knee, and improving daily through physical therapy. We are fearfully and wonderfully made!
And it was during this time that I really got to know (and like) Darla! (Even though we grew up together.) We did not start dating until a few months later, but the rest is history.
3. September 11, 2001. Dad was doing business in NYC and visiting us, and was flying out of La Guardia (LGA) that morning. For time's sake, I won't share all the day's details, but suffice it to say that we saw the Lord's guidance and protection many times that day. (Maybe that story will be a future blog entry for those who are unfamiliar with it.)
4. Now for my most recent example. My second blog entry tells about the new position that I'm taking Virginia. This past weekend, I was down in Luray to procure housing for us when we move in August.
I visited several properties over the weekend and temporarily swapped my trusty little VW Jetta with my Dad so that we could use my parents' Ford Ranger to supplement our moving truck's capacity.
None of the properties I looked at was "it." It was Saturday, and I needed to make the 6 hour drive back to NYC for my last Sunday at Memorial Baptist Church. I looked at one more property before hitting the road. I intended to leave mid-morning, but that last property pushed departure back a few hours, but that's not really the point.
After an hour on the road, I got a call that I still had something of my grandmother's that she needed. My intention at that point was to FedEx it back to her from NY. But that was before I noticed a new, rhythmic noise coming from the truck. I carefully pulled onto the shoulder of the well-traveled I-81 and found an increasingly flat tire on the front driver's side.
I had just received a new membership card for AAA, and I called them immediately, not really wanting to change a tire on the interstate-side of the truck. (BTW, I'm becoming old hat at calling AAA. I called once for a tow when someone broke my windshield. Then I called for another tow when my clutch went out in downtown Brooklyn. I'd say membership has paid for itself.)
After some time, I saw a AAA-dispatched truck pulling up to my aid. The tow truck driver also refused to change the tire there, so he loaded my truck up and drove to a parking lot where he could safely change the flat.
In the meantime, I got a call that a landlord was back in Luray, available to show me his rental property. Being the bright young man that I am, I decided that maybe the Lord wanted me to go back. After all, I had an item to return and a property to see, and I was only an hour away. Oh, and the spare? It was full-size, so I could drive on it as much as necessary.
So I returned to the Valley area. Once there I viewed the best place I had seen so far, at a competitive price. Since then, we have filled out an official application and sent a check to the landlord. Finally I hit the road to return home. I drove into the wee hours of the morning, but the traffic was as good as I've seen it!
As for the tire, it was punctured at the sidewall, so it was a total loss, despite being less than two months old. However, it was under a road hazard warranty, so I was eventually able--with considerable work--to get it replaced for free.
Posted by JRC at July 31, 2003 09:40 AM