So I’m
looking out the window at the steadily falling snow, and looking at the radar
with its blue swath of snow bands inching its way across Michigan, and looking
at the ‘Winter Storm Warning’ message across the top of the radar and
stubbornly insisting, “I need to go to my office!”
I live
twenty minutes away from my office with a north-south expressway between here
and there where the usual traffic pattern is 75-80 miles per hour (except those
jerks who fly past us ‘slow’ drivers at who-knows-how-fast). The prospect of
driving down that highway in this snowstorm didn’t really sound appealing. And
yet I kept insisting to myself, “I need to go to my office!”
But
first I need to eat. I believe in routines. I always make myself exactly two
eggs and sit down in the same spot each morning with my big ol’ set of
scriptures and my study manual. I’ve been studying my way through the Old
Testament for a long time, and yet still only half way through the manual
(story for another day!).
When I
pray before my morning meal to bless my food, I usually include the words, “Bless
my mind and heart that they will be open to the words of Thy scriptures, that I
might be able to apply them to my life, and go into the world this day to be of
service in whatever way I’m needed.” (Or some variation of those words)
Today I
included the words, “And help me to decide if I should drive to my office
today, and if I should let my daughter drive to her school (15 minute drive in
the other direction).”
Well… I
glance down at the heading for today’s study lesson and it reads: “When Thou
Shalt Have Eaten and Be Full; Then Beware.” Uh… coincidence, right?
I fluff
it off and keep reading. The section is focusing on Deuteronomy 6:10-15, which according
to my lesson manual is trying to teach me that the sad truth is that men forget
God in times of peace and prosperity. So I thought, “See! It’s not even talking
about road conditions or snowfall or anything like that!” I keep reading.
The
words in Deuteronomy 6:14 jump up at me as if written in bold, flashing
letters: THOU SHALT NOT GO (it’s actually talking about not going after other
Gods because the Lord is a jealous God and wants us to worship only him). But
that’s not the message I needed to hear today, is it?
I had prayed
to know if I should go to my office, and the scriptures plainly told me, “Thou
shalt not go.” I’m thinking, “But… I need to go to my office!” and what should
the next verse read? Deuteronomy 6:16 says, “Ye shall not tempt the Lord your
God.”
Okay,
okay, I’ll stay home today. And I’ll call my daughter’s school and tell them
that she won’t be coming to school, either. We will enjoy watching the snowfall
from the comfort of our nice, warm home which the Lord has provided.
Answer
to a prayer? Or coincidence? You decide. I’m going to think it’s an answer to
my prayer. What’s your opinion? –Julie L. Spencer
