I went to Charlotte, NC the other morning to be with and pray for a dear friend before her surgery. I left home a little early to be sure I wasn’t flying in last minute. I wanted to be a calming presence. This precious very young mom (twenty-six years old) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and I was one of the first people she called. We have been through a lot together and I have watched her faith grow in astounding ways…in the fire of unbelievable circumstances.
As I drove to Charlotte, I had to take two detours because of traffic. My GPS let me know my arrival time was getting later and later. I have lived in small towns most of my life and I don’t do well trying to navigate cities like Charlotte. I finally got to the address on my GPS. I didn’t see the exact place but parked in the nearest parking garage and figured since I was so close, the employees could point me in the right direction.
I went inside the building and employees were everywhere. My friend told me she had to be at the hospital at 8:15 and it was about 8:05 when I parked. I thought ten minutes would be sufficient. I had the name of the place and address of the place my friend had pinned to me on my phone. I showed at least three employees the picture and no one knew where I needed to go.
Minutes were ticking away and I started to feel panicked. I texted my friend and told her I was in Charlotte but couldn’t find her. I got no response. It was nearly 8:15 so I thought I may have missed her already. I just figured God knew where I was and how hard I was trying so I just calmed down and kept moving forward.
This scripture applies every day, even when we feel like we are chasing our tails and going nowhere.
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.
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Can He really make straight paths for a country girl who has no sense of direction whatsoever?”
Can He really make straight paths for a country girl who has no sense of direction whatsoever? I was walking down a hall and just prayed for God to help me. I got to an elevator and there was a lady behind me and I just felt in my heart she was the answer. I waited for her to finish a conversation, showed her where I needed to be on my phone, and she said she knew exactly where I needed to go. I had a slight praise party as we got on the elevator. She was so friendly and I told her I felt she was an answer to prayer. She personally took me to the floor where I needed to be. I floated out of the elevator, just knowing God’s love and care for me and my friend.
Until…I got to the window to tell the lady who I was looking for. She immediately said, “Oh, you are in the wrong building. You need to go out of this building and cross Randolph and some other street.”
It was about 8:20 by then and I was thinking I had missed everything and just needed to go drown my sorrows with a big sausage biscuit. However, I asked her if I could just walk to the place. She told me I should go get my car and drive to their parking garage. I thought to myself, “Lady, I have no idea where I am at this point or where my car is!” However, I looked at her calmly, being very glad she couldn’t read my mind, and just made sure I understood the exact directions to walk there. I thought it was my best and last-ditch effort to see her. The directions were simple and I knew I pretty much knew where to go so I got on the elevator and headed to the lobby.
I went out the first random door I saw and I heard a voice yell, “Mama Broome!”
It was my friend! She was lost and had no idea where to go for her surgery. I told her I knew exactly where to go. She got out of the car and fell into my arms with relief. I told her everything was ok now and I would get her where she needed to go. We sauntered hand in hand down the sidewalk and right into the building where she was welcomed with a smile from the girl behind the desk.
“What looked like a complete mess on earth was God’s perfect will in heaven being done.”
This country girl with no sense of direction became the hero of the day. How could that happen? God and God alone could do a thing like that with clueless people like me and you. What looked like a complete mess on earth was God’s perfect will in heaven being done.
“The important part is to trust the unseen hand guiding us as we go on our way with joy instead of panic.”
I don’t think “God will make our paths straight” means it’s actually straight. Lots of winding and detours is more like it. The important part is to trust the unseen hand guiding us as we go on our way with joy instead of panic.
My friend and I both walk with God and acknowledge Him in all our ways as best as we know how. Therefore, God was directing our paths to merge with each other in that tiny window of time before she pulled out at that stop sign in the huge city of Charlotte (modern day miracle).
I was able to calmly be there with her, pray with her and her entire family in the waiting room and give her one last big hug with tears in both our eyes before she went back for surgery. My heart was so full as I got in my car. Albeit, I had to go back to the original building and show a lady behind a desk the picture I took of it when I parked. I knew I wouldn’t have a clue where it was later in the day. How did I survive before smart phones?
How does that story relate strongly to our everyday walk with God?
“… but is anything hard for God? No plan of God’s can be thwarted and His control of all things down here is a fact.”
As I read about the birth of Jesus in the book of Matthew, I saw the same kind of thing happening to Joseph and Mary that happened to me. Of course, they had the precious little Lamb of God in their care, but is anything hard for God? No plan of God’s can be thwarted and His control of all things down here is a fact. Is protecting His Son any harder for God than getting me to His desired location?
“If we knew the extreme power of “acknowledging God in all our ways” we would fear nothing and no one. We would have straight paths.”
After Jesus was born, the Magi came to Jerusalem and asked about the King of Jews. They saw a star and they knew He had come. The whole town, including Herod (yes, the one who wanted Jesus dead), came together and searched scripture to see where the Savior would be born. The chief priest and teachers of the law searched scripture and told them it was Bethlehem. Herod took them aside and said that when they found Him, send word so he could come worship Him also. He seemed sincere, but he was lying and was going to kill Jesus. I love the way God uses the very people who oppose Him to get His will done down here. It’s almost comical. If we knew the extreme power of “acknowledging God in all our ways” we would fear nothing and no one. We would have straight paths. Even if those straight paths lead us straight to our deaths, we would still need to fear no evil. It is God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven. Oh, the peace of following God!
God’s star took them straight to Jesus (He was probably about two years old by then). They rejoiced and worshipped! The next part is awesome. God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod or they most certainly would have! Herod was evil and they were obviously naïve to the fact or they wouldn’t have shared with him in the first place. Praise God He can use naïve people and country girls with no sense of direction to get His perfect will done in ways that everyone knows in the end…He did it! He is not glorified by human wisdom.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
1 Corinthians 1:27
“People will worship God when it’s obvious God worked in spite of our stupidity to make incredible things happen.”
People will worship people when they make incredible things happen. People will worship God when it’s obvious God worked in spite of our stupidity to make incredible things happen. Those weak Magi who went to the man who wanted to kill Jesus shamed him when God spoke to them in a dream. It infuriated him because he had flattered them and won them over. I’m sure he thought he was so clever. God made a fool of him.
God told Joseph in a dream to get up in the night and take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to protect them from the wrath of Herod. Little did Joseph know he was fulfilling a prophecy hundreds of years old, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” It looked like a mess but God was above it all, directing every single path.
Finally, when Herod died, no cell phone was needed to make a call to Joseph. The God of the universe sent him another dream to take the child to Israel. As he went, he was afraid of Herod’s son who was reigning so he went to Nazareth instead.
So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Matthew 2:23b
Joseph and Mary were running for their lives and all the while, God was directing their paths and making those winding paths “straight” from heaven. All of that turmoil and movement and seemingly wrong choices, were perfect to bring Jesus to Nazareth where the Son of God would grow up.
“God has never and will never lose. We are on the winning side.”
How about you? Does life feel chaotic and out of control right now? It does for many of us. Just as sure as God chose the crazy circumstances and time in history for His Son to enter the world, He is in control of every single thing happening now. God has never and will never lose. We are on the winning side.
“The God of heaven has us exactly where we are supposed to be and anything that touches us, has passed through His hands first.”
If we are trusting the Lord with our whole heart and acknowledging Him in all our ways, we are in the safest place on the planet. The God of heaven has us exactly where we are supposed to be and anything that touches us, has passed through His hands first.
