TRUST AND OBEY Have you ever considered the difference between trusting God and testing God? Sometimes we take unwise chances and then expect God to bail us out and call that trust. But if you make a choice that most certainly could have disastrous consequences, and then pray for God to get you through, arent you really testing His faithfulness, tempting God to NOT keep a promise? In the Bible, testing and tempting are considered the same... When Jesus was sent to the wilderness, before He began His ministry, and was tempted by the devil to test whether God could truly save Him (even using the Bibles words to test Jesus), Jesus responded with a short scriptural quote: And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.. (Matthew 4:6-7 KJV). This week, I had a similar episode. My car was low on gas; my gauge told me that I had 87 miles left in the tank when I started it at work to go home. I thought, well, Port Angeles is only 70 miles from Forks, so I should be able to make it! Now thats cutting it pretty close, but I didnt want to drive into Forks from La Push to get gas, I knew it was more expensive than Port Angeles, plus it was back-tracking by 11 miles, so I decided to try it... By the time I reached the intersection of the La Push Road with Highway 101, that same gauge now said 57 miles left on the tank, and the last two gauge markers were red with a picture of a gas tank staring at me! I considered again, should I turn right toward Forks to get gas or head on home? I decided to go for it, so I made the left turn and was toodling along until I saw a road sign that said, PORT ANGELES 57 and by now my gauge said 40! Well, now I could back track 27 miles to Forks or keep going, hoping against hope that my gas would last! What did I do? I said a quick prayer, Lord, you stretched out the widows oil and flour to feed Elijah, you can stretch my gas for me, too! I felt very righteous, after all, I was depending on the Lord! As I continued driving, I watched the gauge go down and down as I passed a couple of gas stations that looked deserted. (I didnt realize they were 24 hour station that used credit cards.) My confidence in God remained high until the gauge was at 25, and I still had to go all the way around Lake Crescent! Now, I wasnt sure how far before I even reached the Lake, but I knew that, once on that narrow, two lane, snaking road, there were no gas stations and no easy way to stop unless you were near a view point turn-out! I began trying to stretch my gas myself, by shifting into neutral every time I was going downhill. I kept praying my little ditty about Elijah and the widow, but I knew in my heart that my faith was waning...I was getting scared! The gauge went down into the teens and I thought, Fairholm has to have a gas station! It was the last bus stop before the Lake, and there were some residences there. I reached Fairholm with just 4 miles showing on my gas gauge and guess what...store closed, no gas pumps except one down by the dock for boats. I admit, I was tempted to go down and try to get gas from that tank! But I backed my car into the parking area, shut it off and considered my options. I prayed, but was thinking that God was probably tired of my same song! I could wait for the bus from Forks and catch it into Port Angeles them get another back out to Fairholm to get my car, but I wasnt sure I would make the connecting bus, which would be the last of the evening. Or I could sleep in my car And catch the morning bus to Forks (I had some freshly purchased bananas, apples, and crackers to eat), but then Id be going to work in the same clothes, without a shower! Or I could try to drive the 10-12 miles around the lake on just 4 miles of gasoline in my tank! I started the car and, lo and behold, because my gas tank had been angle down, it showed 16 miles on the gauge...just enough to get me to that Texaco just beyond the lake road finishing. So off I went! And immediately the gauge started a count down... 15, 13, 10... until I heard a beep and saw -----------mls reading on the gauge! I was out of gas! My husband had always said that the fuel injectors get burned if you run out of gas, and are expensive to repair, so now, not only was I out of gas with no relief in sight, I was looking at ruining my new car! I was still praying but not with the vigor I began my journey! I pulled into the Texaco just in time for my car to start sputtering, but I praised the Lord for getting me there, DESPITE my disobedience! I should have listened to the Spirits urgings to go get gas instead of choosing to go my way, the direction the enemy wanted me to test God in! My
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 16:28:23 +0000
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