House Church Talk - Trust Jesus

[goodwordusa at att.net]

I will never forget the last time my wife, Becky, and I drove through 
Tennessee and Kentucky.  I believe it was in January of 1996.  

We had just spent Christmas and New Years in Greensboro, NC.  Not with family 
or friends, but in motels.  We were seeking God's direction for our lives, 
and had been drawn by a combination of circumstances and weak faith to the 
Greensboro area, where we'd spent two weeks.

The "funny" thing about this was that I was not a man of much faith.  I had 
been away from God for just over 11 years.  I had been "on my own" and had 
not been much of a man of prayer of faith.  But this trip from Montana out to 
the East Coast and down into North Carolina was in part an act of faith and 
obedience.  I believed that the Lord was working in our lives.  And Becy also 
believed that the Lord would show us His will on this long journey.

Now we were heading west and north again, toward Topeka, Kansas.  I had been 
offered a great job in publishing back in Greensboro.  But everything inside 
me said to leave and continue the journey.  I was not happy, but I left, in 
the hope that God would truly show us His will for our lives.

Did I mention that we had run out of money by this point?  I drove my '94 
Ford F150, and all that we owned was in the back, under the cap.  On this 
trip we had maxed out our credit cards, and gone well beyond that point. Here 
and there, we were being forced to sell a camera or some other possession to 
pay for rooms, food and gas.  But we had driven out of Greensboro with very 
little money.  

Every so often I noticed that someone had spray-painted something in black on 
the gray-white pylons of some of the highway overpasses.  I looked at the 
words scrawled there.  They said: "TRUST JESUS."

We drove up into Virginia where the sky was solid gray, and rain began to 
fall.  We turned more westward, driving down to Knoxville, where we spent the 
night.  Leaving Knoxville the next morning, we headed up toward Paducah, 
Kentucky.  It was still raining.  Before we had driven far, the rain began to 
turn to snow.  On the way to Nashville, I saw it couple more times, on the 
concrete pillars of the freeway bridges: "TRUST JESUS."

Right, I thought.  I had no faith in Jesus.  I had been robbed of my faith 
years before.  Oh, I believed in God.  But I doubted that Jesus was much more 
than a well-intentioned and misdirected man who had died a tragic death.  In 
the months to come, I would learn that one of us was confused and misled, but 
it wasn't Jesus.

I kept fretting over the fact that we had about a dollar or to to our name.  
Soon we would need gas, and we would need food.  And we would need a place to 
sleep.  I wanted to stop in Nashville and sell something to get some cash. 
But I was "driven" as it were, to stay on the road.  So I kept to the road, 
heading up to Kentucky. About half way between Nashville and the Kentucky 
border, the half frozen rain/snow became serious snow and a hard wind -- not 
a good combination for driving.

Another pylon with a message, and then another: "TRUST JESUS."  Right, I 
thought to myself.  And what can Jesus do for me here and now?  I need 
money.  I NEED MONEY!

The weather got a lot worse really fast.  Later, I would see the reports on 
the news about the surprise blizzard that shut down New England.  Right now, 
though, I could see that it was quickly working to shut down the road to 
Paducah.  We had CB and scanner radios with us.  I could hear the truck 
drivers talking about the weather conditions.  And then most of the 18-
wheelers also left the freeway, heading into the truckstops for shelter.

But I had no money for a motel or for food.  Not even money for gas.  So I 
stayed on I-24, hoping for some place that might have a pawnshop, a trading 
post, or anything, where I could sell a radio or something for cash.  I was 
sure I would not have enough fuel to make Paducah.

I took an exit somewhere, maybe the Hopkinsville turnoff, or some place like 
that, risking the loss of more gasoline.  But I found nothing.  I wanted to 
rage against my circumstances, but while worry was normal for me, I just felt 
led, somehow, to get back on the road and keep pushing for Paducah.  I knew 
it was a stupid move.  Never drive in unknown territory with marginal fuel, 
and no money -- especially when the roads are already frozen solid and more 
snow is flying hard on the wind.  Anything can happen, and then where will 
you be?

I saw a dark blur on a pylon as we passed by.  I already knew what it said.  
Sure enough, as we got close, just before it passed from sight, I could make 
out the spray-painted slogan: TRUST JESUS.  If only I could just do that, I 
thought.  If only it were that simple.  But Jesus would have to be much, much 
more than a mere man to help us now, way out here.  The storm raged on, 
dumping snow amazingly fast and freezing the road more and more.

Like a fool, I drove on into the white nothing, going nowhere.  I don't 
remember how muuch longer I drove.  Everything everywhere was white.  There 
was no traffic.  One in a while some other idiot would drive by on the 
opposite side of the highway.  But my side was cleared off.  Just the snow, 
the howling wind out of the west and our 2-wheel-drive pickup truck.

Both tanks on the truck were now on empty.  And I was going to be forced to 
make a stop, no matter what.  And then I saw the sign that said the next exit 
was Paducah.  And then I saw the exit itself.  And then we drove into the end 
of town.

Somehow, my credit card worked, even though we were way over the limit, and 
credit had been shut off days before.  And we got a room for the night.  
Behind the motel was a Super Walmart that was open all night.  I walked over 
to the store in the freezing wind and picked up some things we needed.  We 
filled up both tanks with fuel.

The next morning we would see the occasional 18-wheelers, 4x4s, and other 
vehicles scattered in the snow here and there.  Lots of people simply had not 
made it to their destination.  But we did.  And the messages on the pylons 
kept nagging at me, goading me.  Maybe jesus had helped us after all?

But I had not prayed to Him or trusted Him.  Not even when it looked really 
bad for us out there.  And in the days to come, I still would not admit that 
Jesus was anything more than a man.  But God was speaking to me in many ways.

And by October of that same year, as the journey finally came to a kind of 
end in Cody, Wyoming (or else it moved onto a new level?), I would see with 
perfect clarity that Jesus is the very Son of God, the Savior of the world, 
and that He truly is LORD of lords and KING of all kings -- not only on this 
earth, but in every place that has existence.  I saw this in the Scriptures, 
and I saw it in my own life as God opened my eyes.

Life gets scary sometimes.  And we get ourselves into all kinds of strange 
circumstances.  And even when we decide to obey God or to follow the Lord, we 
sometimes try to do so on our own terms, according to our own whims and ideas 
and desires.  But we soon learn that God does not jump through hoops.  On the 
other hand, He does mark the path for us, in ways that even fools can see and 
get the message.

And the greatest message of all that God has given is this one: TRUST JESUS.  
It is good for the saving of your soul, and for all else that you will ever 
truly need, both now and for always -- and evermore beyond that.

Jim