Last weekend I spoke at a ladies retreat in beautiful Nordegg, Alberta. Aside from a few stressful stretches of wintery driving conditions, my drive was really breath taking. The enormity of the Canadian Rockies always amaze me and the drive found me whispering praises of awe and wonder.
On the drive home, just a few short minutes into my departure, I suddenly heard these loud words float through my mind: SLOW DOWN.
Ironically, I was only driving 80. How much slower could one go on the highway? But I listened none-the-less and slowed to 50.
The words weren’t panicked.
They weren’t forceful.
They were kind and loving.
But they were loud and crystal clear.
I drove for 10 minutes with my hazard lights on staring straight ahead, turning left, turning right, glancing in my rear view mirror all in full expectation of *shoulder shrug*. For a few moments I actually questioned if I had heard Him correctly cause driving 50 on the highway is kind of dangerous. But when I asked, “What if another car comes?” I heard Him confirm, “Let them pass.”
And then.
Suddenly I saw them.
Right as I turned a corner.
There they were.
In all their grandeur.
A family of big horn sheep.
Do you see them?
Do you see how they blend right in? Do you see how they don’t even look like animals but more like camouflaged shades of rock?
These beautiful creatures would have been impossibly hard to find if I had been driving the actual speed limit.
Hard to notice if not intentionally looking.
Hard to see if not expectantly driving.
Hard to experience if not obediently listening.
Side story: then this one dude was like, “Hey boys, let’s ditch this crew. I hear the other side of the road is so much cooler. Yo Jimmy, keep a look out for those crazy people driving those machine things.” “Copy that Duke, I’m on it.”
Lol.
(This is what happens when you drive 16 hours all by yourself. You make up make-believe animal conversation while crying about how cool God is. Truth be told, sometimes I wonder about myself.)
Anyways…
Here’s the thing.
We are all driving somewhere.
All around us are suggested speed limits in order to keep consistency on the roads, but do we really have to live our lives at other people’s suggested speeds?
Every single day God wants us to enjoy our road trips so He can display Himself in beautiful and majestic ways, but often we’re caught up in simply getting to the destination, obeying other people’s signs and letting other drivers dictate our highway experiences.
Know what happens?
We miss the beauty of what’s going on all around us during the actual trip.
He is speaking, but do we listen?
He is telling us to slow down, but do we respond?
He desires to reveal Himself, but are our hearts actually open to living in those places of expectancy?
More so, are we truly willing to turn on our hazards and drive an embarrassingly slow speed on the highway – while everyone else is passing – JUST SO WE CAN SEE GOD IN HIS VARIOUS SHADES OF CAMOFLOUGE?
He’s hard to notice if we’re not intentionally looking.
He’s hard to see if we’re not expectantly driving.
He’s hard to experience if we’re not obediently listening.
”My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” – John 10:27
