Caught in the Rain by Candace Erickson

The “God Moments” in my life often happen in the midst of the everyday. These are the moments that change my outlook, affect my decisions, give me hope, and let me know God is interested in every aspect of my life. Here’s one:[a][b]

My kids and I spent the day in town, and the day proved to be full in every sense of the word. My husband told me to keep an eye on the weather radar as there were storms forecasted, and we live 30 miles from town. Gotcha. Will do.

So through a series of events, miscommunications, distractions, and well, whatever other word fits into that list, my kids and I found ourselves barely a mile outside of town when I lost visibility. It was pouring rain. (Did I mention I COULDN’T SEE?!!!) I inched past a guardrail before being able to pull into the ditch. I wanted to be completely off the road as this 2-lane highway is traveled frequently by semi-trucks. I imagined being in a head-on collision. (Why does my mind go there?!!)

Then the hail began, 10-15 minutes of hard hail. I told my children to get down. We had to yell at each other to be heard over the roar. As a mom, you can’t freak out. Got to be strong and not cry! I sat there hoping we wouldn’t be hit by another vehicle and that our windshield could withstand the pounding. All we could do was wait as the snot was beat out of our nice family vehicle.

When the hail finally stopped, we began the long trek home. During a brief call to my husband, we discovered there was another storm coming. Let’s just say I drove home with purpose. And that night at home the tears came and the waves of embarrassment and stupidity. Why didn’t I stay in town and take cover? Why didn’t I catch the signs or read the radar differently? Did God try to talk to me and I didn’t listen? WHY?!!! My husband said to let it go, but my heart was deeply troubled. (Why do certain things bother us so much sometimes?)

I woke up the next morning with a pained heart. I could feel a lump in my throat that said if I needed tears they were readily available. An overcast day with a high chance of showers was in the forecast for me. So I went to my office to do some work on my computer. It’s normal for me to have numerous documents open and in different stages of completion. Sometimes I have things up for months. The following is what opened up when I began my computer (It was an idea for a blog post that I had started months before and forgot about.):

I was reading in John the other day, and it said:

Let not your hearts be troubled. John 14:1a NKJV

The “let not” stuck out to me. It sounds like there is a choice being offered here.

Have I had to warn my kids not to float off into space? No, it’s not gonna happen. I have had to warn them not to climb up onto our roof once they saw their dad do it. That’s a possible scenario. So why would Jesus say, “Let not…,” if it wasn’t possible?

It sounds to me like Jesus is saying it is possible for us to have untroubled hearts. In fact, we shouldn’t allow our hearts to become troubled. Hhmmm, a choice presents itself. It also seems to insinuate we would find ourselves in situations that are troublesome, but we shouldn’t let it go to our hearts.

Wow - how did God line that one up?!!! God spoke to me with my own words. Crazy. It got to the heart of the matter immediately, like only God can. He helped me see that I had a choice. Then He helped me make the right choice, and, well, that cleared the skies for my day. No rain, sunshine ahead. Yes, we were still going to have to deal with a badly dented vehicle, but now I knew it didn’t have to steal the joy I have in Christ.

I’ve had other opportunities since then to make that same choice. So glad God showed me that there was a choice to be made. I don’t know what troubles your heart today. I’m not going to say it’s no biggy and there aren’t consequences to deal with. But if I tell you Jesus said not to let your heart be discouraged - He’s got you, will you at least consider listening to Him? It changed the course of my entire day.