Last Thursday was a crazy Thanksgiving Holiday for my wife and me. Our Thanksgiving Dinner was being served approximately 45 miles from our home via the Interstate and Tollway system in DFW. Planning our road trip, we decided to traffic the milelong inter-connector/exit off I-35 to get from George Bush Toll Road (GB) to Sam Rayburn Toll Road (SR). It was the quickest route to our destination…we thought! Once we exited off GB, we realized that we were in real trouble. The traffic was in a total standstill. WAZE tried to notify us but a bit too late. For approximately 90 minutes, we moved not one inch. In some ways, it was a funny time. Folks were getting out of their cars and socializing with total strangers. One of the guys decided to walk to the accident to give us a best guess of how long we would be there. He came back with a bad report. So, I started questioning the folks in cars around us to see what food was available preparing to serve Thanksgiving Dinner on I-35! How many of you have done that?! Then, we noticed some cars were backing up behind us driving south in the northbound lanes. I decided to follow them in a zig zag fashion around cars. Other folks thought we were crazy and were not moving. Proceeding backwards I saw a TX Highway Patrolman who told us that what we were doing was exactly what they wanted. With the affirmation from this policeman who wore a badge of authority, I was able to turn around and accelerated confidently headed southbound on north bound lanes even if others chose not to move! One lane on I-35 had been blocked off allowing us to navigate out of the traffic jam.
Life is very much the same way. Sometimes, we are flat out stuck in traffic and badly in need of direction. At that moment, we need to ask for clear direction from our God and seek guidance from His Word. Why? Because God and His Word are the authority. Once you receive a word from them, you can proceed confidently even if it feels a bit weird.
- Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
- 2 Timothy 1:7 declares “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
- Joshua 1:7 challenges us to “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law…do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.”
- 1 John 5:14-15 exclaims, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
When you have authority and clear direction from God, you can proceed confidently wherever you go and your paths will be straight!”
Barnabas Man 