A Blessing Nonetheless

I went on a wild goose chase yesterday. I had a hot tip about a historic object which I am writing about. Because the subject of my soon to be released book is still top secret, I cannot tell you what the object is. Anyway, my informer told me that twenty or maybe thirty years ago this object was north of Charlotte and he gave me directions. He did not remember street names, but he gave me landmarks which may or may not still be there. It was an hour drive each way, but I didn't see how I could NOT go. If the object was still there, it could be a major clue in my book mystery. So I drove off, knowing this was a crazy thing to do.

As it turned out, I never found the object, nor really the landmarks, so I suspect I had the wrong exit number. It was two hours of my life I can never have back. However, I did notice the leaves were beginning to change color and I always love seeing the first murmurings of autumn. I got to cross over Lake Norman sparkling in the sun, and I listened to talk radio which I rarely am able to do. I kept my eyes open and watched carefully in case God had some unexpected encounter waiting for me. Maybe I was not supposed to find the historic object, but something else entirely. I have learned that much of the joy of life ends up being the side-trips. Sometimes those side-trips become the biggest blessing of all, the main event.

I had just read in 2 Kings 13 about Israelites who were burying a friend when their enemies came upon them. They threw the dead friend into Elisha's tomb, and when the body touched Elisha's bones, the dead man came to life! I imagine that was the last thing the Israelites expected to happen! Sometimes when even unawares we chance upon a presence God has touched, we come away renewed and miraculously changed.

But this time, I didn't see anything obvious. No dead bodies rose up. No bones started dancing. And sadly, I never did find the object I was looking for. However, on the way home, I saw that Interstate 485 now went all the way to Interstate 77 north of Charlotte, and it was a route I had never tried. It would be great to bypass all the busy traffic of Charlotte, and since I had no pressing plans, decided to give the new route home a shot. It was wonderful! It took no more time than the busy though shorter route through Charlotte, and was mostly traffic free. It was a little blessing, but a blessing nonetheless.

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2 Kings 13:20-21 NIV
[20] Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. [21] Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.


-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org
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