By: Shannon Popkin, Published on the True Woman Blog.
My roommates were all huddled around the TV with mugs of hot chocolate, watching the weather report, when I announced that I was going out to run some errands. Their looks of complete shock made me laugh. I brushed off their concern and said, “It’s just a dusting! I’m from Michigan, remember? I’ll be fine.”
Twenty minutes later, I wasn’t so “fine.” Going around a curve, my car did a nosedive into one of Virginia’s beautiful mountains. When I stepped on the gas, my tires only carved deeper trenches. I climbed out and looked around. Why hadn’t I put on a coat? I was in the middle of nowhere with no buildings in sight. And this little venture predated cell phones. I was stuck!
I postured myself at the side of the road, ready to flag down the first car I saw. But no cars came. Apparently everyone was home doing what my roommates were doing. After twenty minutes or so, I was getting pretty cold. I got back in the car and checked my fuel and found it was close to empty. Panic set in.
There in my little car, I cried out to God. “Lord, I was so foolish! I have no other hope but You. Please, God! Will You send someone to help me?”
A few minutes later, a vehicle rounded the bend up ahead, ever so slowly. I leaned forward and squinted. Was that a tractor? In the middle of winter? Yup. It was a tractor, with wheels taller than me. I hopped out, but it was going so slow, it seemed strange to wave my arms. It rambled to a stop beside my car, and a kindly farmer said, “Ya’ll need some help?”
Oh, I needed help, all right! He just happened to have some rope on board and pulled me out within a matter of minutes. I wonder if angels sometimes drive tractors.
Waist-Deep in Consequences
I’m so thankful that we can call on God any time, any place. Even when we’ve been foolish.
Even when . . .
- we’ve disregarded warnings about debt, alcohol, or eating habits.
- we’ve refused to reach out for coaching at work, help with an addiction, or input on parenting.
- we’ve been stubborn, unyielding, and defiant.
When we’re waist-deep in consequences that we created, when we’re stuck in a ditch that we were foolish enough to drive into, can we still cry out to God? And if so, what is His demeanor when we do so? Does He fold His arms across His chest and say, “I warned you about this. You should have listened”?
No, not our God! Even when we’ve created the mess we’re in, God runs toward us with open arms and kisses (Luke 15:20)!
In fact, those roadblocking consequences are often God’s invitation to stop, turn back from our cocky independence, and finally call out to Him! Sometimes God leans down from heaven to give our career a little tap into a ditch. Or our marriage a little nudge toward the rocks. Or our finances a little plunge into the red. God hems us into a place where we’re ready to see our foolishness and cry out to Him.
Even when we’ve created the mess we’re in, God runs toward us with open arms and kisses. TWEET THIS
That day that I was stuck on the side of a Virginia mountain, I don’t picture a cold-hearted God, cracking the whip to teach me a lesson. Instead, I have a memory of a warm encounter with my personal God who sees me even when no one else can. He knows just how big of a mess I’ve made, yet He still loves it when I turn and cry out to Him as my only hope!
Are you facing a ditch today? Are you stuck in a place of hopelessness, wondering if anyone can even see that you need help? God sees you, my friend. And even if you’ve caused this mess you’re in, God wants to be your rescuer.
Let these verses be your prayer:
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief . . . my strength fails because of my iniquity. . . . I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help. (Ps. 31:9-10, 22, emphasis added).
(Read on the True Woman blog here.)
Shannon, This is so good. Love reading your blogs. Love Robyn
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Thanks so much, Robyn. I so appreciate you reading!!
I loved your little article about being stuck in the ditch and a farmer coming along to pull you out. My husband and I are farmers. I also work part-time at a job to feed us and help with the bills. We’ve had some rough times the last two years. Some was brought on by poor choices on our part others were just bad weather bad prices and bad luck. We are truly struggling to hold on to our farm and our livelihood. Our plan was that someday we able to both work on the farm full time. I had all these plans after we had everything figured out and settled in after we were both able to not worry about an outside job. I wanted to grow a huge garden and feed the poor or take vegetables to the jail. As I’m sure you know farming is a everyday of the year job. There’s not a day that goes by that doesn’t have a to-do list. Sometimes we’d be so busy that we wouldn’t make it to church or use it as an excuse not to go. I realize that now. I realize that I had my priorities out of order. Now I stand at this crossroads of trying to figure out how to hold on to my farm, my dreams, so it doesn’t all get washed down the drain. Also being mindful not to slip back in the ditch spiritually but I just don’t know how to get us out of the ditch financially. Farming is high risk with big swings. We’ve been at for five years now but it takes so much to get started. I have not been able to put anything away for a rainy day to dig us out. Most farmers are in debt up to their eyeballs and we are no exception. All I know to do is pray and maybe God will make a way of its his will. Please pray for me and my family.
Dear Fellow Farmer, Thank you so much for reading and writing back. I’m so sorry to hear of your struggle. I love your tender heart of wanting to learn the lessons God has for you–like taking a day of rest to be in church. I remember bringing a meal to a friend who was going through a hard time, and she cried at the door and said, “I wanted to be the one bringing meals!” I hear this desire echoed in your words. You want to be the one serving out of the overflow. Yet you have no overflow right now. But can I encourage you to just serve God by letting Him decide what your “Happy Ending” will look like? We all have hopes and dreams of how we want life to go. But I think sometimes God interrupts those dreams because he wants to remind us that He is ultimately in control. Perhaps God wants you to serve his purposes by living your faith in the face of adversity to a watching world.
This I know for sure: God wants you to turn TO him not away from him! He wants to be the rescuer that you put your hope in. Remember when Sarah was stuck in Pharaoh’s house as his new wife because Abraham had wimped out and said she was his “sister”? God brought sickness to everyone but her, which caused Pharaoh to obviously do a little more digging into who she really was–Abraham’s wife! (Genesis 12:10-20) God rescued her! But if you look back to why they went to Egypt in the first place, it was because of famine. The weather and crops affected Sarah directly, just like it’s affecting you directly. God used famine to press Sarah into a place where he, and he alone, could be her rescuer. Could God be doing the same for you?
Here is my prayer for you: “Dear God, please care for this farmer and her family. Please let her know that you have not forsaken her and you are for her. You do not reward us based on performance. You are a God rich with grace. I pray that my farmer friend would know the rich grace that is hers in you. Let her feel your smile on her today. I pray that she would have new energy and hope to face these trials that you have placed in her path. Be her rescuer, God! Let her know that it could only have been you, who make a way through the difficulties. I rejoice in what you are doing in her heart today. Thanks for letting my little story about the day you sent a farmer to rescue me be a fresh encouragement to her. In Jesus’ name, amen.”