This is a true story about a girl who was around 17yrs old. She had recently become a Christian, and because of that she had made a new friend, who was also a Christian; but she lived three hours away.
One day the thought came to her that she could go and see her friend and stay the night, so she asked her mother, to which the answer was no. She didn't know the reason why, and she couldn't see why she shouldn't be able to go. How come her mother wouldn't let her?
She had to go to work that evening and she just kept on thinking about going to see her friend. She couldn't get it out of her mind, so she decided--"I'm going to go."
She asked a work-mate if they could swap cars--because her car was old and she thought it might not make the journey; that was all arranged.
Now she had to figure out what to say to her mum. She text messaged her to ask if she could stay at her work-mate's house for the night. She knew that wasn't what she was planning---she was lying to her mother and deceiving her.
It happened that her mum said yes, she could stay.
Now there had been a storm brewing outside, while she was working. It was raining hard and it was windy. The darkness was coming on. All she could think about was seeing her friend, who was a three hour drive away.
The storm was quite bad outside. She text her friend to let her know she was coming. It was maybe 9 or 10 o'clock at night when she finished work and set out on her drive.
The car was a little bit different to the one she had--more knobs and buttons to control things, but she figured out the lights and the wipers and set off.
It was more difficult for her to drive in those conditions--rain driving hard into the windscreen and wind blowing the car about a bit, but she continued on, with purpose and determination to get to where she wanted to be.
At one point the rain died down a bit, and there was a strange sound that kept reoccurring at set intervals. She didn't like it and didn't know what it was or where it was coming from. It made her feel a bit uneasy as she drove.
She was maybe half an hour into her drive when something really shook her.
It was slightly downhill; a sharp curve to the left; she was taking it with too much speed in the wet conditions. She put her foot to the break pedal as she turned the steering wheel, and it took her into a spin on the wet road...around and around she went until the car finally stopped spinning and was facing the right way, in the correct lane, slowly rolling down the hill. In a daze, she brought the car over to the side of the road and stopped.
She knew that road reasonably well. She knew that there was quite a drop down the hillside to the left. But she was still on the road and not down there!
She sat there crying, wondering, in shock. In her mind were the words, "Turn back! Turn back!" But here is the foolishness and sinfulness of man---she continued on her way towards her friend's house--cautiously, slowly.About 15 minutes later, she was going through a very small town and coming up to a round-a-bout. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, there came a pack of barking dogs running straight towards the car! She slowed down a bit, but thinking she may have hit them head-on, she slowed down even more. They ran around the car, but then as she began to speed off she saw the dogs chasing after the car! Just as suddenly as they had come, they disappeared!
She knew in her heart that she should "turn back," but she kept going. "I've got this far," she thought..."I've got through those things." Her pride would not give in.
It wasn't too far along before the next obstacle came. She looked ahead, and in the light from the car she could see a dip in the road which was totally flooded right across both sides. It looked quite deep...but foolishly she drove through it, and ended up making it out on the other side of the water.
Continuing on, wanting to fulfil her desires, she passed through a town and came to the other side of it. Not far from there, there were signs and a road block saying the road was closed due to slips. Her heart sank--she really could not go through it. But look--a road went off to the right...maybe, just maybe if she drove down there it could take her past all the slips and road block! She seriously contemplated driving down there...but the realization came that there was absolutely no way to get through. She didn't know where that road went--and it probably didn't go where she wanted it to go--it would just be a waste of time.She was defeated. She had lost. She had to text her friend with the disappointment that she could not get to her house. The only thing she could do was turn back.
The sign at the road block was the first sign about not being able to get through. But was that the first sign? Had there not been any other "signs" before that one?
Oh, yes--there had been many. But in her pride, disobedience and rebellion, she drove through them all, not fearing any consequences for her actions.
She should have obeyed the first "sign"--her mother saying no, she couldn't go see her friend. What a better state she would have been in then--but now she had about 11/2 hours of driving ahead of her to get back to her house.
She turned the car around and started the drive home. It was a strange trip back, in that it was very calm, and there absolutely no obstacles--not one! Where was the flooded road? The barking dogs? The near accidents? The strange sounds in the car? Those things were no where to be seen!
It was a silent trip back, with her heart and mind churning over and over. Past the road where it had been totally flooded; past the round-a-bout where the dogs had run straight for her; past the place where the car had spun out of control; past the places where she had heard the sound of the rear windscreen wiper; back to where she had left from.
She felt she couldn't go back to her house; she felt so ashamed and guilty to face her mother. She sent a text to her work-mate and asked if she actually could stay the night there...she was allowed.
She felt a flood of guilt as she saw her mother's name on the message. Guilt from her disobedience and rebellion. Guilt that her mother might have known where she had been going and what she was planning to do. And she certainly knew that it was stormy out there!
She replied to her mother that she was ok, and then she found her work-mate's house with her own car parked outside. She went inside and explained that the road was blocked off and she couldn't get through. Then she went to bed, where she continued to think about everything that had taken place.
The girl had forsaken God by her rebellion, but He had not forsaken her. Was He not there throughout the whole journey? Was it not His mercy and loving-kindness that kept her car on the road when it went out of control? Was it not God who was in control of those dogs, and the flood and the slips on the road to make it closed? God's hand can be seen in it all. God showed that girl that she was not in control and that she couldn't make things happen how she wanted it, no matter how hard she tried.
That girl had to decide whether she would follow her will or whether she would follow God's will.
And that girl certainly knew which one of those she should do.
That girl....was me.
Matthew 16:25
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
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