Have you ever had a situation occur and immediately you say, “thank you, Lord.” It’s like you just know immediately God intervened on your behalf, spoke to your heart, protected your life, and worked a miracle just for you. Sometimes these situations are big, and sometimes they are small, but they are always wonderful. Whether you call it a whisper from the Lord, or as I usually refer to them, as a God wink, it is divine intervention. It’s Jesus taking the wheel. In this story… literally.
It was late, and I was exhausted. That’s typically what happens after a full day of homeschooling, housework, and then an exciting night of festive fun. I drove through the dark night in my warm minivan with three darling daughters strapped in behind me. I could feel my fatigue, and you know how sometimes when you drive home tired it’s like you’re on autopilot? That was me. I was going through the motions and the routine of a familiar drive home.
As we crested a hill before the turn into my neighborhood I noticed a yellow street sign of caution on the side of the roadway. It’s weathered appearance proved to me it had always been there, but for some reason even though I had driven that road thousands of times, I never recalled noticing the sign before. Sometimes you just don’t notice your surroundings. But there it beamed in cautionary brilliance for the first time to my eyes.
Dangerous Intersection Ahead
Dangerous intersection ahead, I reread to myself, and I thought, it sure is. I had always known it was. My turn sat on the top of a hill, and it was one of those blind positions, that made visibility difficult when it came to oncoming cars. Whether pulling out onto the main road, or whether turning off the main road into my neighborhood, it was indeed a dangerous intersection. Sure, I’d always known that.
I drove onward in a “well duh” kinda attitude, making my way towards my turn. It was dark, like I mentioned before, so that made things easier when it came to seeing oncoming traffic. So as I came to my left hand turn I noticed that no headlights were coming my way. The way was clear with no waiting necessary, but a split second before I cut to the left I heard a warning in my head.
Dangerous Intersection Ahead, it blared, and despite zero traffic in sight I came to a complete stop just to make sure.
Immediately a car with dimmed headlights crested the hill, and I chuckled nervously and lightheartedly. Thank you, Lord.
I knew I was tired. I knew I had not seen that car. I knew without the street sign being pointed out to me, and without God rereading it to my spirit, I most likely would have quickly and distractedly, driven by familiar routine, turned my vehicle full of my children right in front of that oncoming car. Thank you, Lord, I didn’t.
He does this, a lot, you know? To us all. And we don’t even realize it. Many times we call it luck, or we say, “that was a close call;” never seeing that it was the hand of God delivering us. We miss the fact that the inconvenient delays are God’s protection, or that the Beware, Not This Way’s are His signs. They are everywhere. There’s no such thing as luck, only Jesus, or even His angel armies creating a hedge of protection all around. So when you consider telling Jesus to take the wheel, consider the fact that He already has. Now that is comforting!