Our return home

On our first day of our trip home, God sent us a local who suggested we scrap MapQuest through Dallas and take a quicker NW backroute. Not only did his route cut much distance, but it also spared us from oncoming thunderstorms. For most of our trip, we either just passed or just missed the chaotic weather of each destination, as if we were in a protected pocket.

This pocket was evident the first night with what I'm calling "our show." Our goal was to make it to OK City, but we began seeing lightning to the NW when we were still 2-3 hours away. Pulsating non-stop, it soon filled the N and W too. Andrew woke up and I said, "Look, Andrew, God's putting on a show!" Now we had a 6 yr old's awe to complement ours. As the pulses strengthened, I said, "It looks like it's coming straight out of OK City -- maybe we should find a place closer." Of course, we were in nowhereland. "Our show" then came out of the E and then the S too. All around us was a constant pulse of thunder and lightning, but we were dry, in a beautiful, clear little pocket, where we could enjoy the show.

Figuring we were gambling w/ time & space, we had Andrew pray for a safe arrival, which he did with genuine passion. Then he said, "I think God's saying something to us." After a pause, he said, "He's saying He's giving grace to us." Incredible, since Andrew's six. About 45 min later, we found a hotel. Andrew prayed for a room and then asked us what the word "spare" means. After we answered, he told us that God told him "there's one spare room." Sure enough, it had one vacant room, a no-show reservation, that also fit our NS/2Q specs.

Soon after we arrived, the storm did too, heavy-duty. We turned on the weather channel the next morning and they were reporting on "our show." They said the storm was moving to the south, where we would have been had we followed MapQuest. Instances like that continued for our trip home, as God kept giving grace to us. It was also speckled with other curiosities, like the day we spent the morning in God's glory at Arches Nat'l Park and the evening in man's attempt at it in Las Vegas. What a contrast!

But today, I reflect on the protected pocket, which made me think of the "highway" metaphor often found in Isaiah ("I will make My mountains a road, and My highways will be lifted up" -- Is 49:11) and elsewhere ("The path of the upright is a highway" -- Prov 15:19). This connects with another metaphor that's captured my mind these past couple of years: moving from a life of thorns ("In toil you shall eat . . . thorns and thistles shall grow for you" -- Gen 3:17-18) into one of abundance ("to a land flowing with milk and honey" -- Ex. 3:8). God may have spoken thorns into man's life, but the rest of biblical history is about God trying to rescue man out of those thorns and into a land "flowing" (easy access) of milk (needs) and honey (wants).

But to get there, we must pass through a desert and rely on God for everything -- food, water, shelter, etc. -- and we have to climb a trying mountain and face scary enemies. Of 600,000 who walked out of slavery and through history's greatest miracle, only 2 (Joshua & Caleb) had enough faith to walk into the Promised Land. The rest of the first generation may have been set free from slavery, but they died in the desert and never entered the land flowing with milk and honey. It may not be different for us today, esp. in Christian circles. Many choose to follow Jesus as Moses, out of the land of slavery, but balk at the risks of following Jesus as Joshua into the land of promise. In NT terms, this is described as the kingdom of heaven -- something I had been taught was for the afterlife and which others turn into a prosperity gospel that misses the metaphor's point.

In the midst of my '05 summer of craziness, I sensed Jesus (Greek for "Joshua") whisper, "Karen, I'm seeking people to take to the Promised Land, but I'm looking for those who are willing to walk through the wilderness without grumbling." Then and now, I pray for this willingness, for the fruit of the land of promise is delicious. It is a highway of pocketed protection in the midst of storms all around. Sometimes, these are storms we choose by faith to walk straight into, trusting that we're hearing the voice of God telling us to go where others are too afraid to. And in the storms themselves, it is peace in the hands of God. May we all have the courage of Joshua and Caleb and take the risks to enter the land God has destined for each of us. Amen.