All Figured Out

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:28 (NIV)

On Friday night, we had plans with friends to ride motorcycles up to Safety Harbor for their “Third Friday” celebration on Main Street. Husband got home late from work, so we had to hustle to meet our friends on time. We stepped out the door and I looked up to see rain clouds. Where did those come from? When I got home, the sky was clear blue. I said, “Should I go back for our rain gear?” but husband was in a hurry and said, “It’s not going to rain. Come on.” To which I replied, “Famous last words.” And they were. We pulled out on US 19 and looked toward to the Skyway Bridge to see a sheet of rain. It was so heavy that you couldn’t even see the bridge. I figured we would turn around before the toll booth and go home and get the truck, but husband kept on riding. Just about the time I thought I would have to pinch him to make him stop, he pulled under an overpass to wait out the rain. It was only sprinkling where we were so in a few minutes, we went to the rest area and stood at the water’s edge watching it POUR on the bridge. We waited about twenty minutes all the while, husband was antsy and I kept thinking how dumb it was to stand there when we could go back and get the nice truck. Finally, he insisted it had stopped raining on the bridge and we could go. Obediently, I climbed on the bike, but inside, I was furious. I kept thinking, “I am going to get soaked. My nice shoes will be ruined, my good capris spotted with mud, and when we get to our friend’s house, they will say, ‘It looks like rain. We’ll go in our car.’ Then, I will be cold in the air conditioning and cross my arms over my chest and refuse to say anything because I will be so angry. Then, husband will know he made a big mistake and should have gone back for the truck.” I had it all figured out, and the longer I thought about it, the madder I got. But, something funny happened. We rode over the bridge and to the left of us was a monsoon with lightening bolts striking all around. To the right of us was more rain. But on the bridge, it was clear. The road was wet, but other than a little splashing from the pavement, we did not get wet. It was like someone had an umbrella over our heads. And I spent all that time thinking about how mad I was going to be and didn’t get to use it! It made me think about all the times when God asks me to do something, and I go into it kicking and screaming sure that He is wrong and I am right only to find it is exactly where I need to be.