A 12 and a 1/2hr Road Trip w/ Me, Myself and God

4/15/2010, I ventured out on a cross country road trip and drove from Columbia, Missouri to Atlanta, Georgia. Google-map estimated the trip would take 10 hrs and 44 minutes. It took, give or take, 12 and 1/2 hrs. Google didn't inform me that I would also get stuck in rush hour traffic going through Nashville for an hour at a snails pace....aaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhh.

Something "real" happened on the way to Atlanta.

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On the road, I had plenty of time to process some emotions of my own and "I" did. I had way too much "me "time...lol. At one point, I went through it. Out there by myself, I found it real easy to get lost in a little negative thinking and went over it again and again in my head. I vocalized. I acted out. I even took a minute to stop and stew in it for a moment, but God... As usually is the case with Him, it was right in the midst of the struggle and the ~#*!#@^`!* of it all that a wonderful thing happened. God's love and patience were confirmed.

The personal struggle I went through is personal and irrelevant at this point but, you should know, I had reached the point of really getting down on myself and kicking myself. Out there alone with my own thoughts and the devil's pestering, I was really just feeling like I wasn't living up to the calling God has placed on my life. I know, I know. I can already hear all of you saying, "what!"

(FYI...this would have been a great time to have a specific friend in the car with me to support me...hint, hint...not that I'll mention the name of the person I'm referring to....Jared C....lol)

No worries though. The Big Man was in the car with me. The GOD was on the scene. I really believe He just started to calm my heart and communicate to me that He loves me. Isn't that amazing?! I didn't get some, "yep, you're a mess " or "you're a disappointment to me". I didn't get a, "what's wrong with you?" or a "you no good piece of trash". Instead, I got something along the lines of "I love you" or "I know you, knew you, wanted you, want you, believe great things for you and am going to see to it that you succeed." Wow! He's so good!

In the judicial scheme of things, I'm an innocent man. As a "man" though, on occasion, I'm a mess just like the rest of you. I live in the noise also. And it's so refreshing to know that, in the midst of just being a "man" in a car out in the middle of po dunk America between Missouri and Georgia, this man is loved by God...we're loved by God.

So...the next time you're alone and having a bad day, whether in traffic, somewhere exhausted, at work or sitting in your home, take a moment and listen to the heart of God. You'll like what you hear. You'll hear Him telling you how much He loves you. You'll sense Him making His love real to you...if not again, then graciously & wonderfully for the first time ever. You won't regret it. I can promise you that.

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1 Kings 19:4-13

⁴ He (Elijah the prophet) himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

⁵And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

⁶And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

⁷And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.

⁸And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

⁹And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

¹⁰And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

¹¹And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:

¹²And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a gentle whisper.

¹³And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

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What do you think he heard in the "gentle whisper"? What do you think were the tones and inflections? What do you think was the content and context? I think I got a glimpse into it on the way to Atlanta, Georgia this past Thursday.

This Sunday, I'll be taking the trip again but in the reverse this time. Keep me in prayer. I want to hear the "gentle whisper" again. I'll never grow tired of hearing His voice or of having His love made real to me over and over again....ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEf2lZZJLZY