Not Just Another Icy Road

Just the thought of driving in the snow fills me with dread, and somewhere around the corner from that is a panic attack. Seriously, I was the kind of winter driver that your insurance agent warned you about.

For many years I lived in Virginia and suffered through many snowy winters. There were also more than one incident when I either missed work completely or was very late because of my fear of driving on roads covered in snow or ice. As a single parent, the responsibility of providing for my child and myself fell on my shoulders alone; thus increasing the pressure on me.

Since living in Texas, the winters have been milder – for the most part – and the snow and ice has not lasted very long. On the few occasions when the roads were impassable … at least in my mind … my children and I stayed home and I reveled in the opportunity to breathe them in.

We have been very blessed.

A few winters ago, however, we were hit by a large amount of snow, and naturally there was ice under the snow. As a college student the pressure to attend was not as great as going to work, yet I did not dare miss any more reviews, tests, exams, or project deadlines than necessary.

This time I was determined that the bad roads were not going to cripple me. On this day, I drove to college and later to my son’s junior high school to pick him up.

It was on the way home from his school that I learned a lesson that has stuck with me for many years. The road home was narrow and just two lanes. There was a hill, with more than one slope, and on either side of the road were deep ditches.

Normally this drive from my son’s school to home was all of ten minutes. This day that drive would take me more than 45 minutes.

There were cars behind me, who were no doubt anxious to get around me, and there were cars coming in the opposite direction. I was driving very slowly and every time a car did manage to pass me, I slowed down to a crawl.

I could not get past the knowledge that one unexpected, unprepared for bump in the ice could send us over the edge and into a ditch; or that a misjudged tap to the brakes – or the accelerator – would send us in a spin getting hit by cars from both directions. As that line of cars in back of us was growing longer, surely the drivers were getting more impatient, and there was a knot in the pit of my stomach. My knuckles were turning white from holding onto the steering wheel so tightly; and I was going to be sick.

All of a sudden, I could “hear” the Lord speaking to me. They were words of comfort, and words of peace. “Keep your eyes on the road, straight ahead of you. Don’t worry about the cars behind you. Don’t worry about the cars coming at you. Don’t think about the ditch. Just drive the car and keep your eyes on the road, straight ahead of you.”

All at once, I realized that we were indeed going to make it home, and all in one piece! The pit in my stomach was gone, and my knuckles were no longer white.

Then, the most curious thing happened as I started to heed the advice I had been given. The Lord began to show me how life is like that – the icy roads, the ditches and unending traffic. How much easier life is when we keep our eyes on Him instead of the obstacles in our path.

This was not a new concept for me. I had read it more than once in the Bible, but I had not experienced it in such a crystal clear way.

“If I kept my eyes on the road, and did not worry about the conditions around we, we would make it. Likewise, if I kept my eyes on the Lord and did not worry about the problems around me, I would make it through the obstacles.”

Needless to say, I was very glad to get home, but I was also very glad to have risked driving that afternoon to have been given that lesson in trust. That lesson is still with me today and I know all I have to do is remember that icy road and God’s message will renew itself to me.