Taking Courage

God is so not funny most of the time. Seriously. I was debating about church tonight, That Man was working again, and it had started to snow. But I just felt this God tug at my heart that I needed to go. So okay, fine. I packed up the kiddos and braved the snow to head to church. The roads weren't bad, so I was pretty happy. I get to church, no big deal.

And the topic was the Serenity prayer, and they were going to be talking about courage and wisdom. Okay. Fine. Nothing I really needed, but I'll bite. Now, I have to be nice in saying this, because I found out that people from my church read my blog, but I also have to be honest. It was *SO* not what I was hoping for. A couple bits of Bible nuggets, but mostly their personal stories. Blech. I've been needing to dig in the Word, so it just wasn't soul filling. However, I always do get good things out of anything, so I did pick up a couple things.

Finally, the guest speaker, Bob Krulish, says something that made God do His fun little, "HEY DUMMY" prod. Bob was talking about his battle with colon cancer and how when he got the news, he asked God if he should be worried, God said no, and because of the things God had already brought him through, he trusted God and didn't worry. Huh. Okay, Lord, what exactly does this have to do with me?

Well, we got out of church, and the little snow had turned into a lot of snow. As I wiped the snow off my car, I noticed police cars with lights on heading in the exact direction I have to go. Lovely.

See, I have this huge fear: driving in snow. I lay the blame solely on my parents, who spent my entire childhood groaning about how it was sooo dangerous to drive on the snow. Before I ever took the wheel, I was terrified of driving in snow. So here I am, a neurotic adult who's afraid to drive in snow. It's seriously so bad that I will do anything to avoid driving in it. If I have to go to work in snow, I make That Man drive me. I literally shake in fear when I'm behind the wheel in snow-white knuckled and the whole bit.

So while they didn't share a whole lot of Bible verses on courage, I had a few of my own in my arsenal. After all, I did make my daughter memorize Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." As I think I mentioned before, I was motivated solely in my desire to memorize it myself. And it served me well, as I drove home.

The Lord was with me. He's with me wherever I go. I just need the prod to remember it. During my careful maneuvers, I said this verse over and over, remembering what Bob had said-God has saved me from a number of hard times. And when He said He was with me, I had no choice but to believe Him. He's been faithful to me and He has NEVER broken a promise to me.

See, the point of my going to church tonight was not that I needed to hear the message so much as I needed to encounter God in the tangible way of driving through the snow and ice without the fear that consumes me. Oh, don't get me wrong. I was still afraid. God doesn't take the fear away. But He does give courage. If you are willing to take it. Because the funny thing about taking courage is that you have to act. You have to move. God will move with you.

It took 40 minutes to make a 15 minute trip. But we made it safely and without incident. God kept us safe, despite bad roads, that as the news reported later, was the cause of several bad accidents.

The most humbling part of it all is that the final song we sang (one of my favorites), Pledge, went through my head, especially the chorus, which says:
Forgive me now
I don't know how
To love You like I should
I pledge my vow to learn somehow
To love You like I should

I don't know how to love God the way I should. I wish I did. But nights like tonight, when I take a little more courage, and trust Him even in a silly thing like driving in the snow, I learn just a little more about the incredible God I call my own.