In Spite of Me

"I smell smoke!"  Immediately I pulled to the shoulder of the road.  A dozen women scrambled over luggage and exited the church van while smoke poured from under the engine hood.   We were on our way to the mountains for a ladies conference.  Now we were in the middle of agricultural land ten miles from town in a time before cell phones were invented!  We listened to the engine sputter and hiss.

Twenty minutes out of town I saw the engine warning light glow red but quickly go off.  I thought "the next town I'd better have that checked."  The engine gave up ten miles short of my planned stop.

That's when they showed up.  Just as the last woman made it safely out of the van and onto the gravel, two farmers walked up.  I remember them wearing matching overalls.  One was tall and young with dark hair peaking from under a faded ball cap.  His partner was a short older man, a bit weathered.  "Can we help you ladies?"  They appeared so suddenly we hadn't even formulated a plan to handle our situation.  We were still shaken from the whole smoke and  potential flaming van thing

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It was my fault we were in this situation.  I thought I could 'will' the engine to make it to the next town to serve my purpose, to fit my timeline, to accommodate my mission.  Little did I know that my ignorance and stubbornness would deliver us stranded in a grape field ten miles short of civilization.

 "I'm down but I'm not out. I'm sitting in the dark right now but God is my light... I deserve it--I sinned.  But it' not forever.  He's on my side and is going to get me out of this..." (Micah 7:8b-9 in The Message)  As Micah continues to admonish the Israelites for their sin of unfaithfulness, he also delivers these encouraging words of hope and grace. 

Even though the Israelites had forgotten how much they were loved by God to pursue other false gods; 

Even after their unfaithfulness had besmirched God's reputation before  other nations; 

Even when their enemies could see that the Israelite disobedience caused their problems, 

God was ready to take control, plead their case, conquer their enemies and set the world right.

I reflected on God's deliverance of those ladies in the midst of my ignorance and stubbornness.   Those two farmers appeared miraculously even before we had time to ask ourselves or God how to handle the predicament.   They graciously drove me to town to phone home and have my husband send a fleet of cars and a tow truck.  They suggested I purchase $20 worth of small parts with the intent to fix the smoking engine.  (No such luck, the engine melted into worthless lump!)  They stayed with  us  until our husbands drove up and then disappeared.  I never got their names nor properly thanked them. 

God took care of us in the midst of my poor judgment.  How many other times has God been "with me" in my stubborn disobedience when I choose to follow my own thoughts and get myself in a tangle?  He's ready and waiting to help me, sometimes even before I think to ask for His help.

What a great God! 

He loves me

            in spite of my stubbornness,

            in spite of my self-proclaimed wisdom,

            in spite of my poor representation of His character and

            in spite of my blatant disobedience. 

God has a greater  plan.  I'm part of His  plan, not He's part of my plan.

These verses in Micah remind me that God is with me even in the consequences of my poor choices.

 

What a great God!