Skip to main content

Hidden Dangers

Summertime means outdoor adventures. I had borrowed a huge RV camper from my friend Joe for this particular adventure. We parked it at a beautiful campsite near the mountains and a lake, and the girls and I spent a glorious seven days reveling in nature. Swimming, hiking, fishing, Jeeping, relaxing. The time to pack up and head home arrived, and I was getting impatient. I hadn't driven the RV before, but I knew I could drive it. I have a bus driver license, and I can drive a school bus no problem. I walked around the RV to check out any potential obstacles. A 10-foot blue concrete wall stood near where I needed to back up, but if I turned the wheel just right, I’d be in the clear. I was confident.

I crank the engine up and check my mirrors. I slowly release my foot from the brake and start to back up. Something in me says I should wait for Joe to get there to back up his RV. I shake it off, because I really do know what I’m doing. I back out of the spot perfectly, and I put the RV in drive to pull forward.

I glance in the rearview mirror, and I'm dumbfounded. I spin around to behold the rubble. The whole back end of the RV is in tattered pieces. I can see the blue sky out of the back of the RV. The roof metal is peeled back, and the insulation on the side walls is falling to the ground. Jagged pieces of metal and wood stick out over the neatly made queen-sized bed in the back of the RV.

There was no crash; no sound. I’m speechless. My eyes dart back and forth. I didn’t hit anything—there was nothing to hit. But clearly, the debris strewn around tells a different story.

I hop down out of the RV and walk gingerly around to the back of the RV. I was at least six feet from the concrete wall. There was nothing I could have possibly hit to cause this damage—no trees, no overhangs, no buildings, no other RV's or vehicles.

Tears come to my eyes. By the time I pick up my phone to call Joe and tell him what happened, I'm hysterical. I didn’t know how to explain it. I didn’t know what happened. I didn’t know how I could help him pay for the damage. I kept saying I would fix it. I would fix it.

When I woke up from this dream, the Lord showed me that when I am full of pride, I ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit. I think I can do things on my own that only the Holy Spirit should do. The Holy Spirit warned me to wait, but my pride in what I felt like I could do on my own caused me to ignore His voice. 

Next, there are hidden dangers that I cannot see when I try to back up the RV. Only the Holy Spirit can see those dangers and steer clear of them. I can look all I want, but I don't have the same perspective as the Father. Only He can see the big picture, and only He knows all the dangers lurking. As much as I try, I will never see everything, and I have to learn to trust that He does.

Then He showed me that I can and will do damage to myself and those around me if I don’t wait on the Holy Spirit. If I choose to ignore the Holy Spirit, I will create bigger issues for myself that easily could be avoided had I just listened and obeyed.

Lastly, with that pride again. Instead of relying on the Lord to fix what I clearly messed up, I thought I could fix it myself. As if I would have the money to fix that RV, or as if I would have the know-how to do it. But I thought I could fix it. I have to learn to give that up, too. Only God can fix it.

I would think I should have learned this lesson by now, but I haven’t. I’m working on trusting the Lord to drive my RV. And if I can learn to trust Him to drive the RV, there won't be any RV crashes that need to be fixed, either.

Comments

Popular Posts

Jesus Would Advocate for Civil Disobedience

In March, executive orders from governors across the country forced us to stay home, to close schools and churches and to shut down private businesses. Businesses were classified as either "essential" or "non-essential." All businesses deemed "non-essential" were forced to close. This included markets, clothing stores, boutiques, dine-in restaurants, and beauty salons. State parks, city parks, beaches, walking trails, lakes, and other wide open spaces were closed as well. Many people feel that the "social distancing," as it has come to be known, and stay at home executive orders violate their constitutional rights, such as our First Amendment right to freely exercise our religion, our right to peaceably assemble, and that we shall not be deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Some of the people who feel their rights have been violated have decided to exercise their First Amendment right to protest. Some have even chosen

Covert Red Flags: The Real Things You Should Be Looking Out For in Relationships

Your relationship with your spouse should be the closest human relationship you ever have. As we are dating, we are assessing whether or not that person could potentially fit into our inner circle. This causes us to be on high alert for red flags. Most red flags are obvious--lack of communication, anger issues, irresponsibility, controlling behavior, abuse, etc. A quick Google search will bring up list upon list of red flags we should look out for. Being rude to waitstaff, not making your relationship public, not caring about XYZ, stone walling, gaslighting, and more can all be found on most lists. But what about the covert red flags? Those things that are less obvious. My first marriage taught me to look out for the overt red flags like the ones found in every advice column. My second marriage taught me to look out for covert red flags, ones that I never even realized were red flags until I could look back. The entire time we dated, I kept looking for the overt red fla

Because of Who I Am

Someone posted on Facebook the other day the following: Why would you fight for someone who clearly doesn't want you? Please let them go. You are valuable, just not to them. I thought about it for a minute, because I indeed fought for my husband when he clearly didn't want me. I fought for our marriage, even when he had zero interest in making our marriage work. He had already checked out and told me point-blank that he just didn't want to work on our marriage, but yet I fought on my knees before the Lord. Throughout the first few months of our separation, I prayed day-in and day-out. I beseeched the Lord to intercede. I rebuked Satan, and I prostrated myself before the Lord God Almighty. I went to therapy, and I watched sermons online. I listened to every Jimmy Evans podcast I could find. I journaled and devoured God's Word. I wrote my husband scriptures and prayers daily. I soon filled a 100-page journal front and back. Shortly after he left in June