Trying to Beat the Storm

Last Saturday, Jason and I were blessed with an entire Saturday to do nothing but spend time together. He didn't have to work. There were no church functions or family gatherings. No, it was just Jason, me, and the dogs. It seemed like an excellent opportunity for a family hike. After all, the dogs and I aren't getting out as much as usual due to the hot weather, and Jason hardly gets out at all anymore due to his work schedule.

Having made plans Friday evening, when Saturday morning came, I was ready to go. I wanted to allow Jason some time to sleep in as that is a luxury he rarely gets. But once he was awake, I was ready to go. I'm just that type of person. If there's something to do or somewhere to go, I like to get to it as soon as possible. Jason is the exact opposite, which is not bad, just different. He likes to take his time planning things, getting ready, just lounging about and relaxing. (I guess that explains why he's always so laid back and I'm so high strung.)

I tried to get things moving Saturday morning, pointing out that it was getting late, and we needed to get started. My prodding was answered by Jason's calm reasoning that we didn't need to be in any hurry since we had the entire day. I wasn't convinced. I wanted to get out before it became unbearably hot. I wanted to have enough time to leave options in our hiking trails. I wanted to leave soon enough that we could have a full hike and still get home in plenty of time to have some relaxing time around the house. But Jason had other ideas. It was after lunch before we finally arrived at our hiking trail.

Interestingly enough, we were only about twenty minutes into our hike when the thunderstorm rolled in. Dark clouds covered the sky. The wind whipped through the trees. Thunder rolled and boomed. And we picked up our pace. We knew the trail we were on was a loop. We had intended on doing the loop and picking up a longer trail at the end. We figured the distance to the entrance of the loop was about the same if we turned and went back as it was if we just kept going forward. So we hiked very quickly, but not quick enough. Rain drops began falling all around us. Within moments, we were plodding through a complete downpour. I'll spare you all the details, but by the time we reached our truck, all four of us were soaked to the bone, and we had only walked a total of a mile and a half.

Now, there are a couple of different ways of looking at this. If we had left the house when I had wanted to, it is quite possible we could have completed all of our planned hiking before the storm rolled in. On the other hand, it is also possible that if we had left when I wanted to that we would have been in the middle of the long portion of the hike when the storm rolled in. That would not have been fun! So please understand that I'm not saying that I was right.

The point that I would like to make is that sometimes we think we have more time than we really do. Jason didn't want to hurry because he thought we had all day. God had other ideas.

Sinner, if you're waiting to accept Jesus because you think you have all the time in the world, think again. God may have other ideas. Accept Him today before it's too late.

Christian, if you're waiting to be a better witness until you've grown comfortable or learned more about the Bible, stop putting it off. We have no way of knowing when the storms will roll in and take another soul into eternity.

There are times to wait and times to act. This is a time to act! Hurry, before it's too late!