Getting Lost....Down A Familiar Road

I have decided to share a funny, but somewhat scary, story with you today. The night before last, my family decided to order pizza as we often do on Friday nights. We have determined that Friday nights are "pizza and movie night" and I almost never cook on this day of the week, unless I am making homemade pizza. Well, this past Friday, we ordered from a local pizza place. I looked them up the phone book, ordered the pizza and went out the door to pick it up in the next village. I took my son with me and left my daughter at home with Daddy. We arrived at the pizza place and it turns out I had called the OTHER store of that pizza establishment. They kindly called the other store who had my pizzas, and so I decided to make my way quickly to yet another village. Guam is a strange place because there are no direct routes between the major roads, so you have to know the side roads well or you can get lost very easily. There had been one other time that I had decided to cut across from one main road to the other, during the daytime, and I had gotten a bit lost. That time, I prayed to the Lord to help me find my way back to the main road (and I was running on EMPTY)...it was a little scary but the Lord delivered me out of the place I found myself, and with enough gas to hit the nearest gas station. I made a mental note NEVER to try to cut across on a road I didn't know again. I would take the long way around next time. Well, on Friday, I needed to cut across again....it was getting late, and my husband told me before I left to hurry home...he was hungry! I decided, I will go across on the correct street that meets the other road this time. Confidently, I took a turn at a major intersection and followed it in the right direction toward the other road. Before long, the road began to twist and turn through some really run-down areas, and it was dark by now. I looked down and my EMPTY gas light had come on again. I knew I could probably make it about 15 miles without running out of gas, but I was twisting and turning, and at one point...didn't know what direction I was headed in. Until I met that familiar place where I had realized I was lost before. I had taken the same road, was running low on gas again, but this time...it was dark and much more scary. I had carelessly left my cell phone at home thinking I was just going down the street for pizza. I was in a bad position. I had my son in the back sleep who had fallen asleep, he obviously didn't know that if we ran out of gas, we were in major trouble. You don't just knock on a door in Guam to use the phone. People disappear all the time here, and they never find the bodies. I began to cry out to the Lord and asked Him to please deliver me from this place again, even though I had been the one to take the wrong turn and forgot my cell phone, and GAS before I left.



Those of you that know me, know this is actually far too common in my life. I have learned to realize that it gives God great opportunities to show His grace in my life. Well, to finish the story....I began to pray hard and loud to the Lord. The hair on my neck was standing up, as we drove by men walking down the road...just looking strange. I suddenly realized that I had to make just one correct turn again and the main road would be right on the other side. I remembered, but I couldn't remember if I turned left or right. Last time, I had gone the wrong way first, and had to backtrack. This time, I took the same wrong turn. I had to backtrack again. The blessing was that when I first prayed, my gas light turned off and the guage had risen a little. I believe God gave me extra power because I believe I drove further than 15 miles. The whole time, my light was off and my guage wasn't moving. I finally got to that turn, and went the right way....and as I remembered, the main road was less than a mile beyond that turn. I praised the Lord loudly for delivering me once again from my own mistakes.



I still wasn't safe though. There is only one gas station on that back road, and it was a least a couple miles down the road. Just as I pulled onto the main road, my light came back on, and I saw my guage fall to empty. I went to the pizza place, and then the gas station....but there was no credit card machine outside. I was going to have to wake up my son and leave my car, and I was scared. I stopped and prayed again. Lord, help me make it back to base on the gas I have. So I prayed, and He spoke to me and said to go ahead home without getting gas. I trusted Him and did what He said. I drove home with the light on, but I knew I would make it because the Lord had told me to keep going, even on empty. I made it back to the base, put gas in my car, and went home to tell my husband the whole story since I knew he was probably very worried by this time. I got home and he told me that he figured I had seen someone I knew and stopped to talk. He wasn't really that worried about me. God had me all the time. Would I ever test the Lord? No, but I always know He is there for me when I really am desperate. Even if I am on empty and down a wrong road I have been down before, He is faithful to hear my prayer and deliver me from any place where I find myself. I just love the Lord for being so good. He showed His strength in my great weakness, and He delivered me and my son safely home.



I shared this story not to embarrass myself, but to show the grace of the Lord to rescue YOU out of any situation in which you find yourself. Was what I did seemingly stupid? Yes. I could have planned better, and I probably should have taken the long way around, and gotten gas before trying a shortcut, and not attempted this at night, and so on....Did I make a bad decision? Yes, a couple. But God proved yet again that His love for me, and His protection in my life overpowers any bad decisions that I will make. We are also challenged to live as wisely as possible according to the Word of God, and being wise is something I pray for consistently, because I am so prone to making bad decisions. But God can make up for the places I lack in my life, and sometimes, in these places...God can show His character clearly. Am I recommending that anyone take a shortcut through a dark unknown area with a young child and no gas...NO...but if you happen to fall into a bad situation, and you see no way out....do not hesitate to ask the Lord to save you. He will always be right there.

Thankful for my mighty God,

Sarah