DATE WITH DESTINY

I was Twenty years old and it was Summer. I was driving my dune buggy on the two-mile road that led to my house from the main highway. I hadn't had my toy long but I was driving it like I had always had it. It had been raining and I wanted to get home before it started again. One of my friends was with me and he said something about slowing down. I was driving faster than I should have been on that curvy, wet road.

Then my friend asked me a good question. He said, “What would you do if you went over this hill going this fast and there was a car stopped in the road?” I said, “I’d do this,” and quickly bumped my brakes. When I did we started spinning on the wet pavement. As I desperately tried to regain control, we slid off the road into the ditch, but we didn’t stop or even slow down. That’s when I saw the light pole coming straight toward us. Just as we reached it, we quickly turned and missed the pole and started flying backward into a muddy field. As soon as we came to a complete stop, I shifted into first gear and stomped the gas to the floor, slinging mud everywhere. When we got back on the road, I drove quite a bit slower the rest of the way home. That was a scary experience but I was so thankful that God was watching over us.

I wish I had continued driving slower from then on, but I was young, but not quite as wise as I should have been at that age. You may think I’m exaggerating when I tell you this connected story, but I promise I’m not. Just a few months later it was winter and I made a spur-of-the-moment decision. I worked several miles from home and decided to try to make it to my house and back to work on my lunch break.

I was on that same road to my house where I had the dune buggy accident earlier in the Summer and once again, I was driving too fast. It had snowed earlier in the week and there had been ice on the roads for a couple of days, but the sun came out that morning and melted most of it. There were pine trees on the right side of the road casting a shadow on the pavement. Where the shade was, the road had not been exposed to the sun so the snow and ice had not melted there. 

Just as I was going over that same exact hill I saw the patch of ice. I hit my brakes in the same exact spot where I had on the dune buggy. The car began to spin out of control just like the dune buggy did. I tried to regain control just like before but I slid off the road into the same ditch at the same spot. Then I saw that same light pole coming straight toward me. Just like before, as I was just about to hit it, the car quickly turned and started rolling back into the same muddy field. It stopped almost in the same spot as the dune buggy. I’m not kidding. No exaggeration. It was eerie how similar those two incidents were, and I knew once again that God had been watching over me. That time, though, I had to walk to a neighbor’s house and get him to pull my car out with his tractor.

There was a famous philosopher and poet in the early twentieth century named George Santayana. He once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I hadn’t forgotten the incident the previous Summer, but it wasn’t fresh in my mind either. I hadn’t learned anything from it, that’s for sure. There are many variations of Mr. Santayana’s famous quote. The one I like is, “Those who don’t learn from their mistakes are destined to repeat them.” I believe that one can better be applied to this situation.

The Children of Israel went through similar situations where they would serve God for many years and be prosperous. Then they would turn and serve other gods. Then God would send them into captivity. Later they would repent and turn back to God and he would deliver them, but the cycle continued.

Today, many of God’s followers are in the same situation. When we turn away from him and return to our old ways, we get into trouble. Then we call on God for help. He helps us but then we seem to forget and go our own way again. When will we learn? God will not bless us when we turn away from him and do our own thing.

A good relationship with Jesus is very important. Serving the God of heaven is very important. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). He also said, “No one can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13). In John 14:6, he said he is the Way. No one can come to the Father except through Jesus. He is the door (John 10:9).

Let’s not forget who he is. Let’s not forget where he brought us from. If we do, we may find ourselves back there in the same situation we were in before. We don’t have to live in the past or focus on it to learn from it. Sometimes, we do have to look back at where we were, to appreciate where we are now. I want to learn from my mistakes and be determined not to repeat them. Who’s with me?

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3 GIRLS, 3 GUYS, AND A GREMLIN

I’ll never forget the year I turned nineteen. My cousin invited me to go to church with him, so I did. I loved that church and I loved the people. I still do. They were so kind and loving and fun to be around. They didn’t condemn me because I wasn’t a Christian. They just loved me, and showed me kindness, and made me feel like part of the family.

I was raised in church and was taught that the Bible is God’s word, but when I was sixteen, I left home and left all that behind, but now, I was going to church several nights each week, and reading the Bible again. My life was much better. I was headed in a positive direction and I actually felt good about it. As I read more about Jesus and got to know him, I grew to love him. Soon, I gave my life to him and was born again.  

Some of my cousins and friends started coming to church, and we made new friends. We had a prayer meeting night, a youth night, and a choir practice night each week. We would hang out in the little town some nights after services. We did a lot of fun stuff and had many adventures and I learned that I didn’t need drugs or alcohol to enjoy life.    

Things aren’t always perfect, though, just because we are serving God. I want to tell you about a few adventures we had that weren’t pleasant at all, but I know God was with us, and when I look back on them now, I sometimes laugh.

We were taking one of our friends home one night after church when I ran into a mud puddle on the edge of the road. The wheel quickly jerked and pulled the right two wheels into the shallow ditch. I had heard people say, “If that ever happens, turn your wheels back to the road and gas it, and you’ll come back up out of the ditch.” Well, I took their advice and floored it as I turned the wheel back toward the road. It might have worked except for one small detail. The ditch didn’t remain at a consistent depth. It quickly got deeper. Really deep, in fact. Before I knew it, the car was on its side and we were all piled up on each other on the passenger’s side of the car. We had to climb up to get out the driver’s side door, then we had to walk for a few miles to get some help. We finally got the car out, and we were on our way again. God protected us from getting hurt. The side of my car was all bent and scratched up, but we weren’t. Praise the Lord for that.

We were at McDonald’s one night and saw some of our friends there. They were in another car so we were sitting alongside each other facing opposite directions. When they started driving forward, I started backing up, staying beside them, and continuing to talk to them. I glanced back at the parking lot behind me and knew there were no other cars back there. It was all clear. Then, all of a sudden, my car came to an abrupt stop. I had hit a light pole with a concrete base. We were traveling pretty slow, so nobody was hurt and neither was the car. I never did that again without looking back.

Another time, we were headed to church in that little yellow Gremlin. There were three guys and three girls. There were two guys in the back seat and I was driving. The girls all wanted to sit in the front seat together. We were packed in like sardines and one girl was sitting on the other two girls’ laps. When we reached the main highway, I stopped. Then, as I drove out and turned to the right, the girls all fell over on me and grabbed the steering wheel. It felt like it locked. I couldn’t straighten the car up. We quickly headed for the steep embankment and would have gone over if I hadn’t slammed on the brakes just in time. God was with us that day, too, and gave me the wisdom to know just what to do.

As I look back on my early days as a Christian, I’m encouraged. I remember what my life was before Jesus became part of it, and I can imagine how much worse it might have become if I hadn’t started following him. He changed my life in so many ways, and I’m so thankful.

He knew exactly what I needed and he knew the exact time I needed it. He sent me to that little church where his servants would show me his love. They loved me just like I was, and they allowed God to change me in his own time. That’s the way it should be done. We’re fishers of men, but we have to allow God to clean them. We can plant the seeds, and even water them, but it’s God who causes the trees to produce fruit (1 Corinthians 3:6).

It’s amazing how God can turn a life around and give it meaning and purpose. That’s what he did for me that night he came into my heart in that little church. When we get discouraged, and the pressures of life get us down, we need to remember where God brought us from and how he changed our lives. Many times, looking back will give us the strength and courage to keep moving forward.

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THREE FRIENDS, THREE TREES, AND A CONFESSION

I was twelve years old and I lived about a quarter of a mile from my best friend. There were three homes, a church, and a patch of woods between us. There was a valley in the woods and some really tall trees. One day at school, my friend told me he had found a big vine in the woods and had been swinging on it. He wanted me to meet him there after school and have some fun swinging. So I did.

He brought his neighbor with him who went to another school and we all took turns swinging on the vine. At first, I was careful because I was a bit nervous. The hill where we were swinging was pretty steep and when we swung out we were very high off the ground. Then I got a little braver and was swinging further out and higher each time.

Then it happened. I swung too far. There were three trees side by side in a V shape. My shoulder hit one of them and spun me around and I slammed into another one with my back. It knocked the breath out of me and my hands just let go of the vine. I fell into the valley and hit the ground with a thud.

I got up as quickly as I could. It was all I could do to move. I could barely breathe and I was in pain. I just wanted to lay down and cry. All that kept me from doing just that was the fact that I was embarrassed. I didn’t want my friend and his friend to think I was weak so I acted as tough as I could. I did muster up the courage to tell them it hurt a little and I needed to go home.

I could have been hurt worse than I thought. I could have had internal bleeding. I hit that tree pretty hard and I fell a long distance. I hurt for several days, but I didn’t dare tell anyone what had happened, especially my grandmother. I was afraid she would never let me leave the house again.

Shame and embarrassment often prevent us from admitting that we’re not invincible. It also makes us try to hide things we’ve done that were wrong. Even though we know God sees everything we do, too often, we refuse to even admit to him that we’ve sinned, just like Adam and Eve, after they sinned in the garden of Eden. They actually tried to hide from God when he came to visit them.

Isaiah tells us that “sin separates us from God,” but John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (Isaiah 59:2; 1 John 1:9). Have you ever heard “Confession Is Good For The Soul?” Well, it really is. Forgiveness is an awesome gift from God, so the next time you sin, and you feel so ashamed that you want to run and hide from God, don’t. We don’t have to be afraid to come to him. We have his promise that he will forgive us.

We know he loves us, and we know he wants what’s best for us so why is it so hard sometimes to just turn to him and confess our sins and say “I’m sorry?” Sometimes it may be pride, but I think it’s usually just shame and embarrassment. We have to get past that and learn to admit when we sin and ask for forgiveness, immediately. The sooner we do, the sooner we can be forgiven and get back to the safety of his arms. It’s truly the best place to be.

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My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2017 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback & digital format on Amazon @
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6