When God doesn’t want you to go into a specific direction, He may block the way or the Holy Spirit might make you uncomfortable and send signs. Pay attention to the signs because they happen for a reason.
Road trip…
A few years ago I went to a revival with my old church. I was doing the photography and had done the marketing, so it was a perfect time to take pics, but I couldn’t leave when everyone else did due to my work schedule. I took the bus to the event and the Holy Spirit said, “Don’t book the return ticket,” so I listened. I was too busy to think about how I was going to get home, and knew I could always book a last minute ticket for my return.
God always has a plan…
After the event, one of the deacons said I could ride back with him and his family. I praised God for the free ride, but didn’t know God had a plan to use me. The deacon’s wife was driving her SUV, I was in the back seat behind her, there was a church mom in the passenger side, one in the back with me, and the deacon’s daughter was in the jump seat behind us. The deacon drove his van in front of us. The problem was, I couldn’t sit still. The wife kept riding up on the van’s tail and she was putting on CDs and DVDs and kept looking around. I was getting very agitated in my spirit and thought this was the worst mistake! They told me to settle in and take a nap – but I couldn’t sleep like this!
I don’t have anxiety with driving, but I wanted to get out of that truck because the wife wasn’t paying attention to the highway traffic. I prayed silently to myself and at the next rest area, I let the couple know that I could drive – stressed that I wanted to. They declined, but a few minutes up the road, the deacon who was still in the van up ahead suddenly signaled for us to pull over. He said he was starting to get sleepy and asked if his wife could drive the van so he could get some sleep and this would leave me to drive the SUV with the two church moms and the deacon’s daughter. I thought it was an excellent idea – not in a pompous way, but seriously highway safety is important! I reiterated that I was a great highway driver as I used to drive about 300+ miles every weekend to see family and learned a lot about driving with Mack trucks and blah, blah, blah. The deacon was too tired to argue, so he let me drive.
Traveling grace and mercies…
Getting behind the wheel with an extra large coffee because it was now dark, I put on a CD and not liking any of the Jamaican gospel music they had, I found one Donnie McClurkin song I liked and set it to play repeatedly. As it was already dark and everyone with me was now falling asleep, I prayed and asked God for help as we got back on the highway.
Whom God calls, He preordains…
Driving down the highway, it felt good to settle into a few solid hours of driving. I had always been a good road and highway driver, keeping a few car lengths between me and the vehicle in front of me. I think that’s what worried me about the deacon’s wife because she kept riding up on the van or the other cars in front of her and when she would put in a CD or DVD, I’d tell the Holy Spirit, “But she’s not leaving enough room if someone stops short.” On my own now, I knew I had to be extra careful, remember my highway driving rules to always be alert, leave a few car lengths, pay attention to your surroundings, etc., so I drank my coffee and paid attention to the highway. I prayed again because I had precious cargo with me.
Jesus take the wheel…
Out of the blue, one of the church mothers who was sleeping, began saying “Jesus,” in her sleep, and I smiled and laughed to myself as I said out loud, “Yes, Mother. We call on Jesus. We call on you to guide us down the road, Lord.” I drank my coffee and sang to Donnie McClurkin, “I call you Holy. Your name is Holy. You are so Holy to me.” With everyone asleep, they didn’t even know that I had now played the same song for about 3-hours straight, but I was not putting on Reggae Jesus!
Suddenly up ahead and almost in slow motion, I saw a car swerve into the left lane, then I saw the van with the deacon swerve in front of me and stop! It stopped right there on the highway! With a few car lengths between all of us, I knew there was a Mack truck behind me and while we were in the right lane, there were cars in the left so that meant either slam on the brakes with the Mack truck behind me or veer off the road and into the shoulder to pass them. I said out loud, “Lord Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” and I said it louder each time, hoping to wake up everyone without startling them when I swung the wheel. With the shoulder clear on the right, I quickly turned on my blinker and said louder, Okay Jesus, here we go.”
Everyone woke up as I said that last part and I rode onto the shoulder. Looking through my mirror, the Mack truck followed directly behind me and he took the shoulder, too, to pass everyone! We passed both the van and the car that had stopped and then we saw why. There was a dead deer up ahead in the middle of the road. As I caught my breath, I thanked God and everyone asked what happened and with my mouth hanging open, all I could do was, “Thank you, Jesus.” I could hear Donnie McClurkin singing, “I call you Savior. Your name is Savior. You are a Savior to me.”
At the nearest rest area up ahead, we pulled off and the deacon and his wife didn’t know what to say. We all just stood there in shock, because it was God’s grace. Not only did I not hit them, but the Mack truck didn’t hit them either – or us for that matter. I thought about how many accidents we hear about – especially on highways with people leaving events or revivals at night, prayed up and ready to go home, unaware of the devil’s traps. I thought about how I hadn’t booked that bus ticket back home. I thought about how we always pray for traveling grace and mercy and now I understood why.
When you think about your walk with Christ, remember that He is always with us. There are no “accidents” with God. He sends angels on assignment to work on our behalf and He makes the way – always! That agitation I was feeling may have been the Holy Spirit forewarning me that the situation just wasn’t right. More importantly, the prayers of the righteous availeth much – and the good news? Once we got back on the road and my passengers went back to sleep, no one knew I was singing “I call you Holy,” for 6-hours straight! And yes, I call Him Holy, Righteous Redeemer!
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