November 29

Recently while traveling I passed a gas station that had the cheapest gas I had seen in years.  I made a mental note to make sure I stopped and filled up there on my return home.  When the time came to return, my plan was to make one stop for gas, water and bathroom break.  Before I got to that stop, I saw another place that had gas even cheaper.  So of course that is where I stopped.  This place was not one you really wanted to go in and use facilities or purchase a drink, so I filled up with gas and figured I would just have to stop again.

Now, having to make two stops does not help the quickest return time record you always try to achieve, however, it was in the best interest of my travel crew that I find a cleaner place to stop for the other needs. When I was about 15 minutes from home, traffic came to a dead stop.  Obviously there was a problem as there were many fire trucks, ambulances and lots of flashing lights ahead.  When we were able to move again, the reason for the delay became clear.  A car had caught fire and exploded.  It was completely gone except for the frame.  There was no question that had there been cars passing by at the time this happened that they too would have been involved.

My mother, who was with me, turned and said "If we had not made that last stop, we would have been right there when that car exploded".  I was reminded then that God puts us where we need to be and does so in His time.  She was right, the timing would have been exact and we would possibly have been victim to that accident too.

God knows where we are, He knows where we have come from and He knows where he is leading us.  Never doubt that you are where you are for a reason and that regardless of that place, there is something God needs us to experience. Sometimes He just needs us to slow down and sometimes He needs us to be reminded that He is always with us, protecting us from things we could not have foreseen.

Thank you God for your guidance and for putting extra pit stops in our path that cause us to avoid tragedy.

2 Corinthians 2:14

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.