Looking at the Map Wasn’t the Reason I Had to Sit Down

There were several times during that hot July day when I thought I was going to have to tell the girls, “I cannot go any farther.”

I was hurting too badly.

But strangely, each time I reached that point, something happened that made us stop.

We needed to check the time on something.

We needed to figure out where we were going next.

We needed to look at the map.

And I was so glad.

I wanted to tell this part of the story before I got too far away from our adventure at that “large animal-themed park in a sunny southern location.” This circumstance was a big part of that day—for me, anyhow.

Late in the spring, before our visit, I had a virus and ended up coughing through most of the summer. I assumed that the back and abdominal pain I was feeling that day was from all the crazy coughing—or maybe from the fact that I had not done that much walking in a while!

Walking around that enormous park in 101° heat, I would reach the point where I thought I was going to have to throw in the towel and tell the girls that I simply could not take another step. The pain was that bad.

But it seemed like each time I was almost at that point, we would sit down for some reason. We would need to look at a map, check a schedule or simply rest for a few minutes.

And somehow, I was able to make it through the whole afternoon.

In my earlier blog, I mentioned that “much of the unfulfilled expectation was due to the unavoidable circumstances of the day.”

Pain was one of those circumstances.

I was physically hurting and trying to push through while my body was actually trying to tell me something I didn’t yet understand.

Those pauses—the times we sat down to look at a map, check a schedule or simply rest for a few minutes—made the day bearable.

I think sometimes the pauses we experience in life do the same thing for us.

We do not always know why we have to stop. Sometimes it is because of something happening inside us. Other times, it is because of something happening around us.

What we do know is that we have reached a point where we cannot take another step.

And then, somehow, there is a map to look at.

Directions to check.

Something that makes us stop for a moment and rest.

And after that rest, we discover that we are able to take a few more steps.

There are times when God allows us to stop before we even understand why we need the rest.

I didn’t know what was wrong with me that day.

I didn’t know why I hurt so badly.

I didn’t know that I was carrying an infection inside my body.

But Psalm 139 reminds me that there was Someone who knew me completely.

Someone who knew my downsitting and my uprising.

Someone who knew exactly when I needed to stop—even when I did not understand why.

“Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” Psalm 139:1–3 (NIV)

There have been many times in my life when I thought I needed one thing, only to later discover that God had quietly given me what I really needed instead.

Sometimes I needed the answer before I knew the question.

Sometimes I needed strength before I knew I was weak.

The map wasn’t really the reason I needed to sit down that day.

The schedule wasn’t really the reason we needed to stop.

At the time, I didn’t know why I was hurting.

I didn’t know what was wrong.

I didn’t know what I needed.

But God knew.

God knows us completely, even before we understand ourselves.

Before we recognize our own need…

He provides it.

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What is your relationship to the all-knowing God of the universe, the One that created you and knows you completely? Do you know the peace that can come only from an intimate relationship with Jesus? You can know Him. Jesus Christ—God’s Son, born into human flesh, sinless, crucified and giving His life freely, buried, arisen on the third day—will come into your life and change the outcome of your eternity. You just have to be willing to believe and accept His truth. In addition, here is an excellent page that can give you additional information on peace with God: PeaceWithGod.net. 

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