Learning to Listen (Part II)

Well back to our story.  We are ready to leave on our family vacation.  Camping gear, kids all loaded in the van.  So off we go onto the highway.  We had no problems the first few hours as we drove through Texas on I –20 and then head north to Oklahoma on I-35.  It is here where we picked up on I-40 and proceeded to drive toward Amarillo TX.  About 75 miles outside of Amarillo we hit the worst rain storm I had ever seen.  It was practically raining sideways.  The wind was blowing from  the south rocking our van.  The visibility drop to about 10 feet  in front of the van.  I was driving in the fast lane because so many people were just stopping in the road and on the shoulder.  I was afraid of getting rear-ended if I stopped completely.  So traveling at about 35 mph out of nowhere our van was hit by a tremendous force of wind carrying our van from the passing lane to barely on the shoulder.  This would be hint “1” that going against what God tells you to do is a very bad idea.  After we all calmed down somewhat, I was still shaken inside, we traveled on into Amarillo and stopped at a new McDonald near the outskirts of town.  I think about this episode every time we drive past that store.  Turns out a tornado passed right over the section of I-40 in front of us.  If we had been just a bit further down the road there might not have been any of us left to tell this story.  Well God had gotten my attention, at least a little bit, I was thankful he spared us but I missed the main point – “GO HOME” so onward we pressed.  We had to make it to Tucumcari NM by night fall.  We pulled into the Holiday Inn and collapsed for the night wondering what laid in store for us tomorrow. 
Next time we will pickup as we head in to Colorado.
sherman
PS:  Although this story has a good ending and some funny lessons listening and obeying God is a serious thing.  God definitely took we to the woodshed but He was very kind in the way he dealt with my stupid and stubborn heart.  It is my pray that others might learn this lesson without having to go through something like this.  God loves you too much to just let you walk away.

Psalm 81:8-16

⁸ “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! ⁹ “Let there be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god. ¹⁰ “I, the Lord, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. ¹¹ “But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. ¹² “So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in their own devices. ¹³ “Oh that My people would listen to Me,That Israel would walk in My ways! ¹⁴ “I would quickly subdue their enemies And turn My hand against their adversaries. ¹⁵ “Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him, And their time of punishment would be forever. ¹⁶ “But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Learning to Listen

The next few blogs will recount our family vacation to Colorado in August of 1996.  The story begins even before we drove away from our home in Bossier City LA. At this point I was an E-5 (Staff Sargent) in the US Air Force working in missile maintenance at Barksdale AFB LA. Laura and I began planning a family vacation.  The first real vacation we had ever attempted to take.  Normally our trips involved going to see either friends or family never just going away with no other purpose than to go away by ourselves.  so we set our eyes on Colorado.  So many people at church had gone there on vacation that we thought it must be the right place for us.  We had recently purchased a 1990 full size Chevy conversion van and we intended to put it to good use.  At this time we only had our first two children, the oldest Sam was not quite five and the youngest Josh was not quite three.
At the very start of planning this adventure I had an uneasiness in my heart.  God gave me no peace about the trip only concerns.  But ahead we pressed on with our plans.  We had been camping several times throughout our marriage, but not too many times with the kids.  We decided to make this trip more economical we should stay at campgrounds while in Colorado, this would prove to be one of many bad decisions.  We didn’t have access to the internet like we do today so I planned on finding a place at the visitor’s center once we came into Colorado or Colorado Springs.  Anyway how hard could it be there were several military bases in the area that should have campgrounds or even travel trailers that could be had.
About two weeks before the trip I told my wife that I really felt that God did not want us to take this vacation.  Not at this time or this place.  So what did I do – pressed on with my plans not His.  You might ask at this point what was I thinking and I would ask myself the same question.  To clearly know that God was telling me not to do something – yet doing it anyway doesn’t seem like the smartest thing today.  Trust me –it wasn’t. 
This reminds me of a section of scripture that deals with a man after God’s own heart.  Someone much more faithful to the Lord than myself.  King David  decided to take a census of the people.  You may remember that God commanded Moses to take a census of the people in Exodus 30:11-16, but He also said that a ransom was to be paid for each so that no plague would ensue. This is an implied command against numbering the people.  Motivation is everything, a matter of the heart. In other words to count what you have and sit back and place your trust or confidence in your possessions is akin to not trusting God.  David against the advise of Joab (he was fearful of tempting God’s wrath) the census was preformed and the judgment soon followed. You can read the whole story in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles 21.
So why did David do what he new was wrong?  Why did I do what I new was against what God was telling me?  Why do we disobey the clear teachings of God and follow our own desires if we really belong to Him?
I don’t know the answers to all of these but I can tell you that God disciplines His children (you can find that in Hebrews).  And after going through the calamities of this vacation I can tell you that I have learned to listen to God, to not only hear but to heed.  Its about learning to please God not ourselves.  Loving God more than ourselves.  Learning that His way is best and blessed.
Next time I will introduce you to the first few hours on our drive to an unforgettable vacation.
Sherman