A Praise

“The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.” (Pr 16:17 AV)

 

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Pr 16:25 AV)

 

Just a brief testimony and opportunity to praise the LORD.  Today, we sit in the great state of Tennessee.  We are visiting my son and his family.  The LORD just blessed him with a wonderful church as his first senior Pastorate.  What a blessing to see what the LORD has done with him and how the LORD will no doubt use him in the future.  The grandkids were great!  Titus turned five and is the perfect young man.  Jude is a smiling machine.  He loves the attention of men more than women so he took a shinning to his Pawpa.  All this wonderful family time did, however, have a dark cloud looming over.  We traveled at the absolute worst time of the year.  February usually has with it severe weather.  And this was no exception.  We traveled during a one-in-a-lifetime series of storms.  We were delayed by a day getting there and while we were there, an ice and snowstorm blanketed the south.  We had to travel back the day after the storm because another was arriving in the same area the next day.  If we do not get out today, we may be stuck in Tennessee for at least another week.

There were two ways home.  I could either go west through Tennessee and up through Kentucky and Illinois.  My thinking was if I headed directly west, I would spend less time in storm-affected areas.  If I went north, I had to pass over Daniel Boone National Forrest.  At the end of that park is a four-mile-long hill.  This is where the ice hit.  My thinking again told me this was unsafe.  I didn’t relish a four-mile free fall.  Not knowing the condition of I40 through Tennessee and never having driven it before was another consideration.  It was far more rural and if we had an accident, it was highly unlikely emergency personnel could get to us quickly.  So, I was in a quandary.  The wise thing seemed to be to go west and get around the storm-affected areas.  So, I decided to pray and seek God's wisdom.  This is where the two verses above become relative.

The first told me the highway, or the higher way is the way the righteous go.  I took this to mean God wanted me to go through the mountains of the Daniel Boone Forrest.  I fought that a bit until the Spirit spoke to me in the second verse.  If I choose to follow my wisdom and go west, then there was death waiting for me.  Don’t need to tell me anymore.  I began to watch google maps for accidents and closers.  It appeared I75 through the Forrest was getting shut down.  At least north of it.  I began to doubt the Spirit’s leading.  We left the hotel and went to say goodbye to the kids.  When I looked again, I75 was clear.  To make a long story short, I obeyed the LORD and we sailed through all the way home at the speed limit.  There were no accidents and no delays.  PRAISE THE LORD.  It pays to listen to and obey the LORD!  One never knows what disasters can be avoided by listening and following.