What a full morning it had been! I was teaching the first through third grade kids at our church's VBS. Those kids have a lot of energy and by the time it was over mine was gone. I was tired and hungry but I still needed to go to the store and pick up a few things. While I was in Walmart I grabbed myself a Payday candy bar to boost my blood sugar. After getting all four kids back in the car I scarfed it down hoping to get a little energy boost. (Pretty picture there for you!) After cleaning all the stickiness from my fingers I started the car and off we went.
I don't know how long I had been driving when suddenly I felt confused and didn't know where I was. It was a scary moment! I was so tired and drained that I had been zoning out and just driving on "auto pilot". The sugar from the candy bar must have just been taking hold when I got confused because a moment later I recognized my surroundings and calmed down but it was such a weird experience. When I used to commute I occasionally would arrive home only to realize that I didn't remember any of the drive but this was different. I had never been on normally familiar road and not known where I was before. It kind of freaked me out!
Of course I was immediately grateful to God for keeping us from harm while my brain was on vacation. He is so gracious and merciful! We always seem to think we need to have it all together, spiritually and here in the physical world but God's grace is big enough to cover us when we stumble (which I do every single day!) or our brain's decline to join us.
It got me to thinking though. How often do I put my spiritual life on "auto pilot" and just zone out? If something had happened while I was driving I wouldn't have been alert enough to drive defensively or avert an accident. The same goes for my spiritual condition. If I am just zoning out I am unprepared for whatever may lie around the next corner. Or I may just crash because I don't have the energy to keep going.
Today I made sure I kept my energy up by eating when I started to lag. I also made sure I fed on the Word and prayed this morning before I went to do VBS again so I had the energy (spiritually speaking) to teach the kids. My beautiful partner Aislinn was so sweet and concerned for me that she brought an extra yogurt so I could have one if I needed it. I know I need to take care of myself but it sure is nice to have friends that will look out for me too.
And above all it's so good to have a God who is watching over me every second of every minute of every day and isn't afraid to intervene when necessary.
God never zones out.
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 1 Peter 1:13 NKJV *
*When you see the word "therefore" you need to find out what it's there for! If you aren't familiar with this passage then go read at least verses 1-13 of chapter 1. It's a very encouraging passage of scripture!
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6 comments:
I am grateful God kept you and the kids safe!
Sometimes we are too busy with all that is going on that we don't know up from down anymore. God reminds us to take care of ourselves and be more focussed on what is important. Something we tend to overlook:-)
God's Grace.
Oh, Fran! I don't like that at all. I mean, I love what you did with this experience--as usual, you pulled an excellent spiritual lesson out of it--but I don't like the thought of you driving down Getchell (or Mountain Loop) in a zone-y state.
Bless Aislinn's heart. :)
And thanks for all you did for the kids this week! What a blessing you were. They just LOVED VBS. I'm so grateful to you all for making this a special week for the kids.
Fran. Fran? Are you there? Are you okay?? Don't you dare zone out on us again!
I'm the designated keep-the-driver-awake-at-all-costs person, especially when we're on vacation and Bill starts thinking about hotel pillows and continental breakfasts. As for the spiritual lesson, yeah I'll admit to zoning out (even while leading worship *shhh* but not at the Ladies Retreat, I assure you). It just proves to me over and over that it's by grace we are saved. God knows it's not anything I've done or could ever do!
Glory
God Bless!
If you get a chance could you please say a prayer for a little girl named "Rebekah" who has cancer. God knows who you will be praying about! Thank you so much!
Trying to rally some good Christian Prayer for her and her family!
Thank you for that experience and the spiritual lesson drawn from it. I too have had that scary experience. Not funny. But you are write - how often can we let our spiritual life got he same route. Thank you once again.
I pray you are ok?
God's Grace.
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