A famous quote by Martin Luther King Jr was on repeat in my head Friday night as we drove home from seeing a comedian 1 1/2 hours away from our home. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”Last night was a lot like that only the staircase was an interstate!

Imagine driving on the interstate. Now imagine driving and not being able to see the lanes. There were a number of times last night where it crossed my mind, “my 16 year old son who is totally blind could probably be doing just as good a job as any of us out here right now.”

I had a lot of time to sit and think about trust and faith as my hands clenched the steering wheel. I couldn’t see any of the lines on the pavement and didn’t know what lane I was driving in for most of the drive. There were times when I followed the break lights of the vehicles in front of me and prayed they kept it on the road because I was just following their tracks. Then there were times when I was alone on the road with no tracks to follow and wondering why the inside median doesn’t have more stakes or road markers like the outside shoulder and ditch because I could imagine the width of the shoulder and aim for staying out of the ditch better. It was strange how many similarities I found to my faith journey as I did with this treacherous drive home.

First of all, I need to be following after God with the same or even more trust than those drivers last night because He can guarantee we won’t be ending up in the ditch. He is THE WAY! Second, scripture is much like those highway signs, road markers, & stakes along the side of the road were last night. God’s Word gives us boundaries to live by to keep us safe, on the path, & heading in the right direction. Third, scripture tells us to let the children come to Him. We are supposed to have faith like a child. As my son sat in the same car as me traveling down the same treacherous highway we both had very different experiences. He tuned out the world around him and was never really concerned for our safety or whether we were going to make it home or not. There were times he was even giggling to whatever it was that he was listening to. I on the other hand was contemplating interrupting his sweet bliss to ask if he remembered how to call 911 if we ended up in a ditch and I was unable to call for some reason. While I did let him know at one point that the roads were very bad and I needed to concentrate I chose not to cause him further concern. I did this for 2 reasons really…1) he tends to think the worst possible scenario naturally & 2) I was not going to speak about ditches out loud when I was trusting God to get us home safely with car and the both of us unharmed in anyway. I was not going to speak out anything against what I was praying for. I refused to allow the enemy any loopholes to try to sneak in.

The gift I received from this adventure was peace. Yes, my hands went numb after the first hour of clenching the steering wheel and the drive took everything out of me physically, but there were glimpses of scripture coming to light right before my eyes. My son’s cheer reminded me of Jesus sleeping on that boat in that treacherous storm out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, keeping my eyes on the break lights ahead of me trusting they were staying on the road reminded me about how hard I need to focus on Jesus in this journey of life, the posts & road markers along the side of the road reminded me of scripture and how I need it to help guide me. In these moments I felt secure. I praise God today for this clarity! So often I get caught up in the world that is spinning so fast around me and I miss out on the smells of spring or God’s beauty in nature or that inner peace of a fellow believer. I’m so thankful that on this night I was connected with God in a way that I saw Him everywhere I looked.

Even in the chaos of driving through a snowstorm I’m reminded of Ps 46:10 where He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” There was something about having to slow down physically that allowed me to really tune in and I’m so very grateful for this special time with Him. Much like He met me with His peace in this snowstorm, He meets us all in the variety of storms life throws at us when we are in relationship with Him. Thank you Lord for these very tangible lessons on trust and trusting YOU!