Tag: Skyline Drive

EDITOR’S NOTE; Today we welcome Babara Lee to “Walking With Jesus!”

Relaxing Through the Mountains

Barbara Lee, MSET

6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 

7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. 

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

 Psalm 34: 6-8.  (Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Psalm/41/2)

 

UP THE MOUNTAIN

Sometime near Resurrection Day at the start of the millennium, I was driving to a colleague’s home before driving with him in his car to a work-related conference. I was on “Skyline Drive” which is a two-mile-high, serpentine road, with two lanes. On one side was the precipitous drop, and on  the other side the perpendicular wall of rock. The surrounding view from the mountaintop was of a green land neatly divided into fields and squares with a small-town underneath, but it was “suicide” to look down while driving. Skyline Drive had one lane going up the mountain and the other lane going down with no physical division between the lanes but with constant twists throughout the two miles. From above, I assume  that the road looked like a lazy, peaceful, serpent relaxing in the sun on a grassy field with a “full- tummy”. In the springtime, verdant trees covered everything; and in the fall, the land was awash with colors as the trees changed shades.  The picturesque scenery was gorgeous from the incline unless . . . .

…at the top of the mountain, my brakes completely failed! There was no apparent cause since the car wasn’t “that ancient”, and had been maintained on schedule, yet my foot pedal just went to the floor. I panicked, (briefly cursed), and prayed, something like, “Oh ****, Oh God!!” And then I was “off to the races”! 

THE EMERGENCY BRAKE

On a road which was constantly used, I was able to swing the car left and right down the narrow pathway, until at the end of this “suicide ride”, I thought briefly about taking the car into a local shopping center’s parking lot until it would slow to a stop. As the weight of the car started pulling it backwards into oncoming traffic, I THEN REMEMBERED the emergency brake and pulled the car to the side and engaged the emergency brake.  It was at this time that the local police stopped by on the other side of the road, and the officer asked if I needed help.

 My first thought was, I could have used your help a few seconds ago! But I said, “I am contacting my mechanic.” Since my friend’s husband was an auto mechanic, and the road was all uphill,  I was simply calling him to see if he was available. 

Pete, my “expert mechanic”, examined the car and said there are multiple, “redundant” systems to prevent this from happening and asked if he could send the parts to the manufacturer. My comment was, “Take any parts, but can you fix it?” He gave me the estimate and time and drove me, his overwhelmed friend, home.

I purchased a new car thereafter and remembered the lesson. I could have been hit by a car going up the hill or hit someone else as my car was flying “out of control” down the hill. I might have been pushed over the sheer cliff or have hit the sheer rock face; yet neither one happened. Angels provided a safe path for me down since God had His purpose. 

HEED THE SIGNS

How often are we oblivious to God’s clear signs and displays of His love, protection, and provision for us? It may not be as obvious as clearly as that experience. We run outside to do our daily tasks without a thought about giving God thanks, see a picturesque sky and don’t think of The Maker, and then eat delicious food and not recognize Our Provider. If you were a parent of a child who constantly refused to show gratitude, how often would you keep giving more? If you had family members who rarely took time to take their head from the electronic devices, would you graciously give them more? Yet, Our Father wants our simple thanks. 

When we recognize His Power, Authority, and Glory; God wants to shower us with even more blessings. Our Creator doesn’t need us since He could clearly make “children of Abraham” from rocks (Matthew 3: 9). But He wants us as family, and He chooses us as His friends. And for those who choose to follow His Heart, God invites us to grow and mature through those choices. 

Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology explains who the “Angel of the Lord” is from biblestudytools.com (https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/angel-of-the-lord/). Most people, when they see an angel, are struck with fear. The “Angel of The Lord” carries God’s messages and is identified with God. This angel can be a messenger of good or evil, but always does what is right. In Genesis 16:7-14, the Lord’s angel tells Hagar to return to Sarai. The angel of the Lord also pronounces a curse on people who “refused to come to the Lord” (Judges 5: 23), puts Israel’s enemies to death (2 Kings 19: 35), and commissions Abraham to confront Pharaoh (Joshua 5: 13-15; Exodus 3: 5) about withholding the Hebrews, “God’s only son” (Gen 22: 11-18).

Far from such a powerful angel, God provided me with an angel when I needed His protection and provision.  God is “no respecter of people”, and I am no closer to God’s heart than any other child of God. I am quite certain that we sometimes feel that the vehicles of our life are so “out of control” and all we want to do is put the brakes on the vehicles that appear to be carrying us down the precipitous mountain; but we must try to remember that  though we may want to put on the brakes, God can always send His angels to safely escort us to His place of safety and joy.