Of course, weather plays an important part in when and how well our travel goes. So the Tuesday night before we were going to leave, my dad and I checked NOAA's weather page online to see what the weather would be in various cities along our route. Unfortunately, it did not look good. We take I-75 to go from Michigan to Tennessee and vice versa, so we checked the weather of cities such as Toledo, Dayton, Lexington, and Knoxville. In every city, 60-70% chance of severe thunderstorms was predicted.
FYI: 60-70% chance of severe thunderstorms is not good weather to drive in for almost 650 miles!
Besides being not preferable, it's quite dangerous too. Dad and I called Mom over to discuss things. We didn't want to cut short our vacation a day, but should we? Should we come home on Wednesday instead? We checked Wednesday weather for I-75. Wednesday, while slightly better, didn't look good either! There wasn't 60-70% chance of severe thunderstorms, instead, it was about 40-50% chance. Problem was, we couldn't just stay longer in Michigan. College was ramping up quick, and I had an appointment on Friday! So, after much prayer and discussion, we decided to go home a day early, on Wednesday.
That was at 8:45pm on Tuesday night. God blessed us with speed and clarity of thought, I know. Because just over an hour later, by 10 PM, we were ready and packed to go.
Fast-forward to Wednesday--Dad woke both me and my sister up at approximately 5:24am. About twenty minutes later, we were out the door. We had a brief downpour of rain about half hour into our trip, but for most of the day it was just overcast. We went as fast as we could, getting as many miles behind us as fast as we could. Because we had no idea when the storms would come.
The storms came in southern Kentucky. Unlike other parts of our trip, where we are very close to cities (think Ann Arbor, MI and Toledo, OH; Dayton and Cincinnati, OH, etc.), southern Kentucky does not have any cities. Just a few towns. From Lexington you drop straight down to Knoxville--WHEEEEEEE! as my sister would say! ;) So anyway, I guess I'm just trying to say that we were really out in the boondocks when the storms hit. Lightning flashed multiple times, and not too far away either. Thunder rolled, and the rain came in torrents. Dad almost couldn't see because the rain was so blinding. I was praying hard. Then a whole new twist came into the story. Overhead signs, which can be constantly updated, told us that there might be considerable delays on I-75 once we crossed into Tennessee. We had experienced some of these on the way up; construction had closed the interstate down to one lane. Fine. We'd just go on through, at least it was only like 1:30pm. (It's about three hours from the TN-KY to our home.) However, as we approached Tennessee, the signs that we encountered gave us conflicting messages. Some said that there would just be delays; others stated that I-75S was completely shut down. EEK!
One sign even advised us to turn to a certain radio station, which of course we did. While not very clear, we did make out that I-75 southbound was indeed totally closed, due to an accident that had happened just an hour before. Motorists were advised to take Exit 160 (the Jellico exit, the first one you come to in TN) and take 25W as a detour around the accident, and then rejoin I-75S at Exit 134.
With really no other option left, that's what we decided to do. But as we got off the interstate, I saw many more cars not get off the interstate. Had they not heard the radio? Had they not seen the signs? Didn't they know what they were getting into? I honestly felt sorry for those people.
Did you ever pause to ponder that that may be how God feels about us sometimes? When He sees us keeping on sinning, going to our destruction? Even when we have been well-warned way ahead of time, with His heavenly "radio" and "signs"? For hundreds--no, thousands--of years, God has untiringly tried to save humankind. We don't deserve it. We don't deserve anything but our rightful punishment--death. (see Romans 6:23) But God has lavished His love upon undeserving us, and has set in place a way for us and Him to be together again someday. That's really the crux of it all. God can't stand to be away from us. Have you ever experienced that? A time when you had to part ways with a friend or loved one, and couldn't wait to get back together again? If so, I think you'll understand where God is coming from.
To continue the analogy, what if you saw that your friend was swiftly walking towards a cliff's edge, which surely spelled instant death? If they didn't know about it, wouldn't you want to warn them? But what would you think if, after being warned, they decided to not change their course? To continue walking towards' that cliffs' edge? Well, I think you see what I mean.
God communicates with us in a variety of ways. He communicates through His written word, the Bible. When you hear that still, small voice speaking to you, that's God! Or God may choose to tell you things through a pastor's sermon, or any number of other ways. And that gets me thinking--the word communicate stems from the word commune. What does it mean to commune with God? Merriam-Webster defines commune (or communing) as talking things over, or discussing different matters with other people. Just think! God wants to hang out and talk with us! Is that incredible or what?
I think that the lesson of this devotional is pretty obvious. God is very involved with mankind and He is constantly trying to figure out ways for us to be together with Him again. He has set up a plan, really a gift, of salvation by which we may be saved and live forever with Him. But none of that can happen unless we follow His signs and directions, and do what He says.
Are you following God today?
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