Unpredictable

March is unpredictable, isn't it?  It's no wonder they say something like: "it comes in like a lion..."  Who would have thought yesterday, when it was, what? 47? that this morning we were going to wake up to snow covered roads???

Sigh...

This morning reminds me of another March, some time ago...about 25 years ago to be precise.  I was behind the wheel of a burgundy Chevy Malibu, driving four of my friends back to Clarion University from our spring break trip to Daytona Beach...yes...I was one of those Daytona Beach-bound spring breakers in my previous life...

Four of us were from permanently sunny and scorching hot Panama, and the fifth passenger was a tiny girl from Turkey... What in the world did 5 young women in their early 20s from warm weather origins know about checking weather reports?  Absolutely nothing!  We left Florida where it was fine, and as I was driving somewhere in the West Virginia Interstate Highway (at least that's what I think...did I mention we also didn't know anything about maps and routes? This was WAY before GPS, you know?) it began to snow.  I mean, like a blizzard.  Snow came down so heavily that I just could not see anything.  I knew it was crazy, but I had to stop.  I could not pull off to the shoulder simply because I didn't know where the shoulder was.  I needed to stop the car immediately, right there and then...so I did...and boy, was I ever glad I did, for, as soon as I stopped, through the thick snow fall, I was able to see that there was a line of cars right in front of me, also stopped in the middle of the road.

Sigh...

Never in our wildest dreams did any of us in that little four-door sedan ever imagined, when we left Florida, that we would have to spend the next 24 hours stuck somewhere in the mountains of some State right there in the Highway along a few hundred other stranded motorists.  And that afterwards we will have to spend another 24 hours in a school-turned-into-a-shelter, eating much appreciated canned food and sleeping on the floor, finally covered with much appreciated blankets after spending a long time stuck in our little car, in our shorts and t-shirts.

Yeah...that was an experience that lives vividly in my memory still.  Crazy/unpredictable March pulled a good one on us back in 93. 

The thing, though, is that it was not that unpredictable after all.  Later on we found out that the weather forecast had been actually calling for a blizzard in advanced.  It was unpredictable to us...who remained unaware...who weren't paying attention.

This incident makes me think of my life as a Christian.  I am such a scattered-brain person.  My mind is always going on ten different directions.  I have a hard time focusing...really focusing.  What happens is that often, when I try to be still, I lose the reigns of my mind...and it just wanders into places I have no business being at.  Like, say, now: I've been so busy with work and other things, I've been neglecting my time with the Lord.  But you know why I have allowed myself to be so busy to the point of distraction?  Because I'm actually anxious.  I'm anxious about upcoming medical tests.  And the way I see it, if I keep myself busy enough, I won't have any time to think about them.  I don't want to stop because I don't want my mind to "go there."  I'm playing the distraction game...so much, that I'm not paying attention, and I'm not keeping my eyes on Him.

I'm so busy and distracted that I'm forgetting to look at the forecast provided in the Bible.  I'm forgetting to look into His Word to remind me that no matter what, the outcome is good because He has already won!  Victory is mine, but I'm forgetting to claim it.  I'm, once again, into a blizzard of hectic spinning, just because I'm too confused about the first thing I should do:  open up the Bible and spend time in His presence to find the road back to His peace.

I really do not want to be caught in an blizzard I wasn't expecting anymore...I don't want to find myself stopped in the middle of the highway, not knowing what is going on.  When I'm panicking in the middle of the storm is not the time to look at last week's forecast.  I better keep my eyes on Him now.  I better remember that, He is the One Who Controls the winds and the waves at all times, rather than try to find calm in the distractions of a scattered mind.

Dear Lord, keep us safe, keep us protected, keep us healthy, but above all, help us to keep our eyes on You!