Hmmm, things to ponder!

Proverbs 16:9 The mind of a man plans his way: but the LORD directs his steps.

As believers, we hold to the promise, "all things work together for good to them that are the called according to His purpose."  During these times, while the world seems to be unraveling ... this is when we cling to the promises of God!   This reminded me of a story that took place nearly ten years ago.

It was January of 2011 when we arrived at the airport late Thursday night with our bags and our kiddos, only to find out that our flight was canceled because of a freak accident -- a tractor ran into the plane, of all things! So we repacked our ourselves tightly into a small rental car to make the two-hour drive to get back home to Arad in the middle of the night. Our flight was postponed until Sunday.

Sunday came, and we got on the plane. We flew into Atlanta only to find that not only was our connecting flight canceled, but the airport was entirely shut down due to a severe ice storm. There was not one flight out, and all the hotels in the area were booked solid.

We had to arrive in Baltimore in time for some scheduled speaking engagements, so we decided to rent a car, despite everyone's wide-eyed stares. Now, normally this is only about a 12-hour drive -- however, because we were driving at a speed between 10 and 20 miles an hour for half of the way, it took us a whopping 22 hours!

Fortunately, the ice was so bad that every half an hour, I would have to pull over and break an inch or two of ice off the windshield wipers -- so the freezing weather kept me nice and alert! But we got here safe and all in one piece, thank God.

As I drove, I thought about the fact that we are very quick to blame the devil for these kinds of circumstances. But the Bible says that ALL things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes, and in retrospect --- our delay was instrumental in helping a dear friend to be able to make an emergency visit to her daughter, bless two lovely troubled teens and enabled us to share with and bless people we might have never met between Atlanta and Baltimore!

These days, life is getting more "interesting," so take every opportunity, every strange circumstance, and every change in plans as an opportunity to trust God and share His love and all that He's given us. Looking back, I can see that perhaps God may have just planned this thing all along! Take every opportunity, every strange circumstance, and every change in plans as an opportunity to trust God and share His love and all that He's given us.

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The Bible tells us that the last days would be like the days of Noah. As the mass of humanity witnesses the signs of increasing violence and evil manifesting in ways that seemed incomprehensible even just a decade ago, we are focusing on the peace that faith brings through the present storm. Though the ark he built for the flood was perhaps not the most luxurious boat ever made, Noah and his family were able to abide in God’s rest through the most terrible weather in human history.

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