Messages from God at 70 mph

The last eleven months have been a ponderous mix of life-changing events; job change for hubby, two weddings, a grandchild, kids moving in, kids moving out, empty nest, and very soon another job change. Any one of these events is enough to cause stress; all of these events in less than a year are enough to send me crawling to a counselor! But I haven’t, because God is good and faithful. My hubby and I are weathering all these changes well.

But all of these events have advanced into known new territory...except one; while my husband, three kids and their spouses, and grandchild have all shifted into their new roles, I am still waiting for what will happen for me after August 31. God has yet to show me what my new ministry role will be.

I realized the other day that if I wake up on September 1^st without a job it will be the first time since 1981 (the summer of my junior year in high school) that I will not have something I have to do. I have segued from school, to jobs, to homemaker, to job, to school again (with the "mom role" woven through)—and while all of these roles shaped me into who I am today, they are also all changing. September 1^st may bring a stillness to my life that I have not experienced in thirty years. And I am not sure what I will do in that motionlessness.

Friday, August 12, 4:20 PM, we were traveling south on I77. We had been on the road to Clinton, SC for seven hours with three more to go, moving our oldest son, his wife, and child to their new ministry assignment. I was staring out the window at the scenery letting my mind wander through its verdant mental pastures. We passed under a bridge and suddenly I was jolted back to reality; there on a concrete pillar someone had spray painted in blue, “TRUST JESUS.”

Then my mind had something upon which to ponder. I wondered who wrote that phrase. What prompted someone to grab a spraypaint can, go down to a random bridge on I77, and paint “TRUST JESUS”? Was it done in the middle of the night when traffic was safer and the cops maybe were not around? How do I feel about the fact that a bit of illegal graffiti gave me a message from God? Did God give this person a clear directive to (sing to the tune of “Go down, Moses”):

“Go down….to the highway….and paint, paint this message for me…go down…to the highway…and give my children a sign.”

Whatever the reason, it was certainly a gentle message for me and I thanked God for whomever had been illegally obedient.

Of course I have been praying about this job/ministry transition. And God continually gives me the message to trust Him. And right there, on a concrete bridge pillar in North Carolina He reminded me again. Odd, isn’t it? God can use the oddest things to comfort our discombobulated souls.

On Monday I prayed and asked God for a clear message; am I to seek temporary employment (to help with the bills) or am I to continue to wait and trust Him? It wasn’t an hour later that a friend posted this verse on her Facebook wall: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." Psalm 37. Then later that day, another dear friend gave me a gift; a small plaque with Jeremiah 29:11 printed on it. Okay God, these messages were about as clear as blue paint on concrete at 70 mph!

So, I wait. And I am working on trust. And if I do wake up on September 1^st with nothing to do, I will rest in the care of my loving Father. Maybe I'll grab some spray paint and head on down to Rt 30...