Recently, I was invited to visit friends in Michigan. I wanted to go, but … there were complications.
Barry had always driven when we traveled. The one time I’d gone alone, I got lost twice each way. (Who knew there was a White Pigeon in Illinois as well as Michigan?) And if you miss the turn onto I-80, you end up on I-90 going north instead of east. Lost and shaken, I sat in a McDonald’s parking lot trying to figure out where I was and how to get where I wanted to be.
On the way back I felt confident until I found myself (oops!) on the Chicago Skyway at rush hour – the Friday before Memorial Day. Bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper …
“Oh, Lord!” I prayed. “Give me a sign!” And there it was: “Eisenhower Expressway.” I successfully got on but missed my exit. Traffic carried me many miles out of my way.
Exhausted and frustrated, I began to wind my way back through the suburbs toward home – and got stopped for speeding outside the Lombard Library (where I used to work) just as people I knew were leaving for the day! So embarrassing!
Let go with just a warning, I finally got home. Whew!
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So, with that memory, I was anxious about my upcoming trip.
“Lord, what if I get lost? What if it rains? What if I have car trouble? Or an accident?” I was scaring myself into chickening out. But then the still, small voice: “What if I go with you?”
The Lord said,
“I will go with you and give you peace.”
Exodus 33:14 Contemporary English Version
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Epilog: It rained most of the way home. I edge toward panic on the highway in the rain, but this time was different. There was unusual peace as I adjusted my speed and kept a careful eye on traffic. There is no doubt in my mind that I was experiencing God’s presence. The Presence that is always there, whether I sense it or not.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
Psalm 91:2 NLT