My wife prayed for Rose,
and for her car, the night before the trip. Rose was able to visit her elderly
father and make it all the way home safely. And she told an interesting story
about the drive.
Several hours into her
trip the highway was narrowed by construction. Work crews were on the shoulder,
and one of the lanes was marked off by orange traffic cones.
Rose is a careful
driver, and she had slowed down for the construction. But the car ahead suddenly swerved as if out of control, and somehow knocked a traffic cone up in
the air. Rose saw it caroming toward her like an orange missile.
It seemed to be
happening in slow motion, and she knew there was no way to avoid the cone’s
smashing into her windshield. She braced herself, hoping it wouldn’t shatter
the glass.
But only inches from
impact, the cone sailed off at another angle, away from her car, as if swatted
by a giant hand. Which is what Rose is convinced actually happened. She
believes the Lord sent an angel who just slapped the cone into another
trajectory.
It’s wonderful to know
that God protects His children, and if need be, He’ll knock a trial sideways
and prevent it from touching us. But what about those times in our lives when
the traffic cone hits the windshield? And what if it’s not a plastic cone, but
a jagged chunk of concrete with rebar sticking out of it?
The other day as I was reading through Proverbs I saw this: the crucible is for silver, and the
furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts. Proverbs 17:3
Our
loving Father stands between us and brutal circumstances. He upholds us. If He
doesn’t protect and provide, our car will crash and so will our finances. His watch-care keeps us healthy and safe.
But sometimes He steps
aside, and when He does, we experience the crucible, the furnace. But in those
times, He is not bent on destruction, but on purification. We feel the fire but
He sees the gold.
So let’s rejoice when
the cones sail into the air without hitting us, but when they do, when the
windshield cracks, let’s pray for perseverance and courage. His hand is still
upon us and “He only designs thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”
