There were six inches of snow on the ground that early morning. I
was feeling a bit apprehensive over Beverly’s desire of driving to work
instead of working from home. I was already thinking of driving her to the
facility if she was bound and determined to do this thing. The weather was
supposed to rise above freezing in the afternoon which was comforting along
with the roads being treated with a mixture of brine and sand. You know that
pretty coat of white stuff on the vehicles after things have subsided. Though I
had reservations, vehicles were gingerly going up and down the road. I prayed
for her as she left, asking the Lord to watch over her and protect her.
Before leaving, she told me the route she was going to take, and
it was relatively flat and primary roads; her itinerary pleased me for that was
what I was going to do if I drove her to work; it was a good choice with the
least challenges as was the last time we had to deal with ice and snow on the
road to get her to work. As in the past, the only two points of concern were the
ramp off the bypass to 20th street,
and of course, the wild card, the unpredictable nature of other drivers not
knowing how to drive in the snow and ice.
Last year I drove her to work following that same route, and the
ramp was dicey with ice though the roads were traversable up to that point.
Whatever salt had been scattered like seed was no longer working on the ramp
that day. God blessed our skidding and stopping! It was the most precarious
section of taking her to work.
In this recent ordeal, there was a layer of ice covered by much
more snow. You are probably thinking why didn’t Beverly just work from home and
avoid all of that, right? With so many anticipated callouts that day, she said
her job would be a greater nightmare if she couldn’t make it in. It turned out
to be the right call after it was all said and done. God did something really cool for her. He dispatched a personal
messenger of sorts!
Any element of guilt I harbored in letting her go in her craziness to travel in the snow dissipated with a message from the Lord in the form of a snowplow – “I will go before you” (Isa 45:2, okay, I’m spiritualizing this text involving Cyrus); this was a definitely a “He leads me” moment (Psa 23:2). What follows is a translation of what Beverly said she did when I called her just before turning onto company property.
When Beverly got to Keith Street a snowplow had preceded her
through the intersection. She got on to Keith and got right behind the
snowplow! What she didn’t know was that this snowplow was taking practically
the same six-mile leg she was planning on driving! The snowplow turned on 25th street; Beverly turned on 25th Street. The snowplow got on the 64
Bypass; Beverly got on the bypass. The snowplow took off on the questionable 20th ramp; Beverly took off the same
troublesome ramp without any issues! The snowplow turned left on 20th Street;
Beverly turned left on 20th.
When the snowplow turned left on Old Tasso Road, Beverly would
break off from following the snowplow and continue on for an eighth of a mile
or less down 20th street before turning onto company property! Less than half of a
mile of going to work was without a snowplow or incident. This was simply
awesome!
I know this situation sounds sort of ridiculous to people living up in snow-ridden states up north, but down here in the south, we are not equipped to deal with snow and ice; it is not a way of life in the wintery months. So, it is a big deal for us and ho-hum for northerners. Anyway, you can call it coincidence, luck, chance, or whatever, but I call it providential. We asked for protection and had no idea it came with a snowplow!
It turned out to be a good thing that Beverly made it into work.
It was worse than she predicted; there were over three hundred out of five
hundred-plus employees who called out that day! Many live on secondary and
tertiary roads that are hilly making it unsafe to travel. It was a crazy bad
day for her and the company. Hey, snow happens. By the time she left for home
at 5 P.M., mentally exhausted, the temperatures were well above freezing, and getting home was a much safer drive for her.
That day we expected trouble; it never materialized; it came
unexpectedly on the next day in better road conditions! Beverly and I were
going to have breakfast at a local haunt. As we were traveling down this
stretch of road, there was only one car approaching us from the opposite
direction. As we were closing the gap between us, a commercial van drove out
from the other side of the road without stopping and turned into our lane. I
was forced off the road and ran parallel with the van and the
ditch. Miraculously, we never made contact with the van, but if I had
stuck my arm out the window, I could have literally touched the van; we were
traveling that close side by side.
The car in the opposite lane was laying on his horn for the van cutting him off. As the van pulled away from me in the lane I was able to safely recover and smoothly drive back on the road. If I was going to run off into a ditch on this road, this would have been the place with its mild grade. The ditches up ahead were not so vehicle-friendly. The van finally turned left and was turning around to come back? He waved. I think he realized he made a mistake. We went on. I immediately told Beverly, “The Lord had set us up! We just came out of a test unscathed!” It could have been so much worse. There was no personal injury or damage to our car. We thanked God for HIs watch care over us!
What message was God sending? Uh, “Michael, you need to let
the snowplow Princess drive?” No, I really don’t know the real reason. You
know; it was just one of those, “Thank you, Lord, kind of moments” and a
reminder to us that our safety is in God’s hands. Maybe we were already
snowplowed spoiled and let our guard down that morning. After all, we didn't
need to call upon God to watch over us when road conditions were less
treacherous! Come to think of it; we didn't pray before leaving as we did
yesterday. Perhaps, this was the lesson, the test, the reminder. Our very lives
are in His hands in spite of the weather!
For us who believe, it doesn't take much imagination to see
God's hand in both situations. Staple truths like all things are working
together for our good (Rom 8:28) and God's promise to always be with us (Heb
13:5b) is an ever-present reality. Our enemy wants for us to believe that God
is giving us a snow job no different than some acquaintance, company,
politician, or salesperson. Satan will maintain that so-called providence is
nothing more than happenstance.
Do you know enough of Scripture to recognize when you are being duped by false teachers and getting a spiritual snow job? There is an ever-growing apostasy stirring in our country today, and it shows no signs of abatement with so much rebellion and insensitivity to the authority of God’s Word!
Do you know enough of Scripture to recognize when you are being duped by false teachers and getting a spiritual snow job? There is an ever-growing apostasy stirring in our country today, and it shows no signs of abatement with so much rebellion and insensitivity to the authority of God’s Word!
We know God’s agenda in our lives: to be like Him and live for
Him according to the Scriptures. This comes as no
surprise to us who believe. There is no deception or concealment on God’s part
to make us believe something by saying or acting in a way toward us that is not
true or sincere. God is so holy, so pure; He will never violate the teaching of
Scripture, ever and never (Psa 89:34; Num 23:19; Titus 1:2; Heb 6:18)! And that
is no snow job!
To be sure there is a lot
of snow falling in the world today and not the snowman-building kind of
snow. This snow chills the soul because many are welcoming, making, and
consuming spiritual snowballs like candy containing the spiritual error that the Word of God is untrustworthy,
unreliable, or merely mythical. The snow comes in all sorts of flavors
appealing to all palates. The spiritual weather will eventually turn into blizzard-like conditions the closer we get to the consummation of the Church age.
Until the rapture, traveling in the will of God (and prayed up) is the only way
to safely travel in all kinds of weather. Naturally, it doesn't mean that His will is without hazard just as peace doesn't mean the absence of conflict; that is where trust comes into play. Contrary to public opinion, God's Word is free of snow (Psa 119:140; Prov 30:5). Let's go to work! <><
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