The forecast called for temperatures in the mid-twenties and freezing rain. Most people would be smart enough to stay home.
“Drive carefully. The life you save may be your own.”
I’d not forgotten the 1950s billboard ad about driving carefully. To avoid a crash on the icy roads in rush-hour traffic, I got up for work two hours early.
A thin line separates bravery from stupidity.
In the black of night, the roads looked wet, but they were as slick as greased glass. When I approached the dip in the road, I stepped on the gas, praying that I could make it up the hill on the other side. At the top, I took a deep breath, thankful I had made it. But no!
Out of control, I prepared for a terrible crash.
The speed to get up the hill left me moving way too fast. My momentum was sliding me straight into the unbanked curve and over the embankment. A turn of the steering wheel or tapping the brakes had no effect.
More than my car was about to be totaled.
When I saw the eighteen-wheeler coming around the curve, I prepared to die. “Jesus,” I whispered, not as a curse word but as a greeting, because in less than five seconds, I would be in Heaven.
Someone else took control.
In violation of all physical laws, the car skidded in a perfect curve, inside the center stripe like a hockey puck guided by rink’s wall. How was that possible? Past the big truck, where the road straightened, I quit sliding and regained control.
We’re not going home until God is ready.
Driving carefully is important if we want to stay on the road. But when something happens that we can do nothing about, it’s nice to know God is in control. Whether he chooses to intervene or not, everything will be all right.
We have full confidence, knowing that our present condition is temporary and we will soon be at home with the Lord. — 2 Corinthians 5:6