Daily Devotional For Sunday, November 12, 2023
If you have ever gone on a trip, you know the road comes with road signs giving you the speed limit, exit numbers, distances, and even other information suh as food, gas, hosptials and etec. Sometimes you have the best laid out trip and you hit roadbocks such as road construction, accidents, weather concerns, or mechinical problems and tolls. These can be very frustrating and cahllenging, espcially if you arre on a tight schedule.
Several years ago we were traveling back from Orlando. We were just about to enter into the Florence area when all of a sudden our Tahoe died on the interstate. I had noticed for a brief period that the lights on the dash were getting dimmer and dimmer. And all of a sudden, the engine died and we coasted to the entrance of a rest area. By the way, this was 11:30 PM. This was frightening with a wife, a duaghter and two dogs. We never made it into the rest area itself. We were on the side of the interstate at the entrance.
I called AAA and tow truck came. Meanwhile I was using my cellpbone to book a hotel and to try to get a taxi or Uber or Lyft. None of these would come to us. When the tow truck arrived the driver told us he was not allowed due to insurance purposes to let us ride with him. I asked him, "Well, are we suppose to stay outside in this rest area all night?" He told us to call AAA again and explain.
About 30 minutes later another tow truck driver arrived. We told him our situation and he told us the policy again. We asked him what are we do to do since neither a taxi nor Uber nor Lyft would come. We saw a Bible on his dash and we told him I was a pastor. He said, "If you will put your dogs in the back of the Tahoe, I'll put it on the flatbed. Y'all can squeese in with me and I'll drop you off at the hotel, you can unload luggage and dogs and I'll take your Tahoe to the Chevy dealership." And that is what we did. The next day, the local Chevy dealer called me to let me know the Tahoe was repaired, picked me up and soon we were on our way home to Wilmington,
James 4:13-16 says, "Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” (14) How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. (15) What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” (16) Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil" (NLT).
Many times our best laid out plans do not go the way we want. How we respond to these is just as important as to the unexpected that happened. Proverb 19:21 says, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand" (ESV). Whenever you are making plans, give them to the Lord. Ask God first, before you plan. If our lives truly belong to God, then should we not ask Him first? Maybe our Plan-B, should have been God's Plan-A!
Love you, Pastor Kelly
Verse to Meditate On: Proverbs 16:9, "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps" (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: "Dear Jesus, I do not always discuss with You my plans. Help me to share them with You before I simply act. I ask that You guide me and direct me with them so that my plans bring You glory. In Jesus' name, Amen!"