|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
The Snow Test May 21, 2007 By Danan Benson
“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Psalm 56:3, NKJV).
I’ve been told that confession is good for the soul. And I know that I have a few issues. But this issue is a recent development. After once having thought snow was glorious and wonderful, now I have a paralyzing fear of the white stuff. Worse than the snow itself is being in the mountains during a snow. I was born and reared in south Louisiana, certainly no mountains and very little snow. Add to that the Lord decided to call my husband, myself and our three children to Central Africa, um…I don’t think I ever heard of snow in Central Africa either. Nowhere in my ‘job description from God’ did I ever read the requirement that I had to deal with or like snow. Yet, of late, I keep finding myself stranded in snowstorms on top of mountains! Perhaps, I should digress to where my dislike for snow began…
Prior to February 2007, my experience with snow had been somewhat limited, an occasional flurry here and there. I thought of snow as something fun to run out and play in, beautiful on postcards and pictures. If by some wild measure an artic front accompanied by precipitation actually reached Bogalusa, we might see an inch of snow, usually for less than 24 hours. Outside of day to day life in Louisiana, family vacations were always in July or August, thus not much snow anywhere we chose to visit in the USA.
Then, in February 2007, my husband and I were thrilled to finally be meeting with the Foreign Mission Board to receive our appointment to the Central African Republic. While traveling to St. Louis from Louisiana, we experienced driving through snow for the first time, a little scary, but thankfully, uneventful. From St. Louis we traveled on to our long-planned family vacation spot in a beautiful chalet, high in the mountains of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Once again, we were driving through the snow flurries for part of the journey. Arriving at our destination in Pigeon Forge, we barely made it to the top of the mountain before we found ourselves completely snowed in. Of the three families staying at the top of the mountain, about half of the group ended up with the stomach flu, all the while viewing four-wheel drive vehicles turned over in the ravines just a few hundred yards below our chalet….I guess one might conclude that I was just a wee-bit traumatized by my ‘mountain-top/snow’ experience. When the snow finally thawed enough to flee the mountain, my husband and I made the decision to cut our vacation short and ‘get out of Dodge!’
Now…it’s late April…we’re on deputation…having a great time, traveling from Nebraska to California. Once again, we find ourselves stranded on top of a mountain in a snowstorm somewhere in Wyoming near Cheyenne. The weather forecast is calling for 4-6 inches of more snow. We’re due in San Jose, California the following night for a mission service, and 1,100 miles are still ahead of us. I’m wondering how I ever thought the fog we were encountering was ‘innocent fog.’ I never dreamed it was a snow cloud! My mind is racing, trying to figure it all out, and yelling, “Lord, where are You? What is this test about?”
In my stress, in the tenseness of the moment, in my flip-flops trudging with three kids and all our stuff through whirling snow and sleet…I feel the warmth of His presence….I hear the sweet hum of His gentle voice. I hear Him saying, “I’m stretching you. I’m placing you in places and situations that you have no experience and no control over. You have to trust Me now. I want you to understand that I’m in the places that are foreign and uncomfortable to you. I’m here on this icy, white-covered mountain.”
Once safe in our hotel room, I begin to look for the answers. Like every good Apostolic, I pick up my Bible and flip it open. I find myself reading verses about the Lord’s majesty and worshipping Him in the ‘high places.’ I’m thinking that I really love to worship His Majesty in the low places of Louisiana. I don’t slide off mountains there. Still, He keeps gently reminding me that He is in control. I may not be very happy about my circumstances and location, but He has us stopped here for a reason.
You know, we never master this lesson of trust. We just learn to trust and believe in new and different stages for every season of our lives. Today is a new season and our life-page has turned again.
We were stopped, delayed and stranded in the vastness of a snowstorm in unfamiliar territory. Patience and trust may be virtues, but they’re certainly not ones I achieve easily. Even still, I must learn to trust God and block out the noise of anxiety and stress that so entices my mind to succumb to its cry. I’m striving to learn to remain focused on the Lord and His ability to chart my course. Is it easy? No. But when a submitted heart is willing to accept the challenge of faith, the Lord can take us to new levels. There is strength in struggle and that strength empowers my soul.
In the end, we did make it to California, although we missed our scheduled service. We were able to leave Wyoming early the next morning, before the forecasted snow arrived. God was carrying us all along. He just wanted me to take the time to worship Him in the high places!
Isaiah 2:2 “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it” (New King James Version).
ninetyandnine.com
© 2007, Danan Benson
------- Although Danan Benson enjoys traveling and seeing the beautiful sights in all of the Lord's creation, she is slow in getting used to 'car-schooling' her three kids! She looks forward to the day that she will pack up and head to Africa where she will no longer live out of a van. |
|
|
