EVERY PLACE I travel, the Lord speaks
to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten to the age and stage of life where I’m
searching for and expecting it. I'm listening. He speaks to me in nature, in people, and in
sights, smells, and sounds. And He did so again on my recent trip to Savannah,
Georgia.
The weekend
of May 4-7, I gathered with eleven other Guideposts
Magazine writers and four of their editors to tear apart and reassemble
stories we’d written for one of the Guideposts publications—Guideposts, Angels on Earth, Mysterious
Ways, and their new publication All
Creatures. It was a packed weekend of meeting new people—with hearts to
tell God’s stories—making new friends, and a crash course in historic Old
Savannah. Staying right on the Savannah River, in what was once a cotton warehouse,
helped transport me into the antebellum era-meets-modern-amenities city. If I
closed one eye I could almost see the antebellum Southern dames strolling the
cobblestone and brick-lain streets with their handsome, chivalrous beaus.
When you’re
a writer, you look for even the smallest clues and events that might give you a
story, a reason to write. (Sometimes we look for a story where there is none,
but that’s another topic.) And I went looking.
Not only
did God answer my prayers as He spoke to me through the amazing lives and
testimonies of the women writers I gathered with; He spoke to me through a
sign—a black and yellow metal warning sign posted on a brick wall. Not the
likeliest place to hear from God. I found it one day while I was out strolling
around the waterfront.
Let's zoom in closer to the sign on this brick wall.
“HISTORIC STEPS. USE AT OWN RISK.”
What do you
think I did when I came across these? Turn around and take a different route?
HA! I couldn’t resist. I strolled over to the several-hundred-year-old steps,
looked them over, decided they looked navigable, and definitely too attractive
to avoid. I gingerly placed my foot on the first one. Seemed sturdy enough, so
I ventured forward and upward.
I was
immediately struck by how steep they were, the rise being pretty high and the
tread being very narrow in depth. My thigh muscle actually complained as I
lifted myself to the first level, and I’ve got pretty conditioned thigh
muscles. A couple of thoughts that ran through my mind while I climbed were: They must have had pretty tiny feet back
then; and How did they walk up and
down these steps wearing those voluminous skirts!?
But those
thoughts were incidental to the first thought I had when I encountered the
sign: How very like life those steps and that sign are. Not the HISTORIC part.
The USE AT YOUR OWN RISK part.
So many
things in life should have USE—or DO—AT YOUR OWN RISK signs plastered on them. Scripture
is full of things we should bypass at all costs. God has already laid out a
nice instruction manual for us to use to avoid or reduce trouble and heartache.
If we have good parents, they reinforce those truths, and if we’re smart
children, we pay attention to them and follow them. God has also instilled in
us a sense of right and wrong; we know when we’re throwing good judgment and
behavior to the wind and taking unnecessary risks that might injure or damage
our lives.
God
provides us with ways out. He even tells us in Scripture that He does. With
those stairs, just to be safe, I could have turned around and taken a different
route up to the main street. I could have avoided them altogether. But they
were so alluring, so enticing. It was as though they beckoned me, as so many
harmful things in life do.
And such is
the same with life. Taking unnecessary risks. Not fleeing lusts, enticements,
or worldly pleasures. Not putting my spiritual armor on everyday and then leaving
myself vulnerable to attacks that make me cave in. Deliberately putting myself
in a situation that could compromise my good character or end up making life
unnecessarily difficult for me.
Daily, and
sometimes hourly, we are confronted with choices. And in order to make the best
ones, we need to:
1. Be saturated in
God’s word. Know what it says and don’t do anything that contradicts it, no
matter how enticing it is.
2. Be prayed up.
Go away someplace to be alone with God. Pray for His wisdom and discernment to
guide you. Be sensitive to the leading of His Holy Spirit, who will never
mislead you.
3. Spend a lot less
time listening to the world and its wisdom. Turn it off and shut it down.
Raise a hedge of protection around yourself. That way you reduce the harm that
can come to you, while also reducing the harm that you might bring to someone
else. It will also abate the harm you might bring to yourself.
If you do
all of these things daily, you’ll scale down the risk you encounter.
And you’ll
enjoy a lot more peace in your life!
I couldn’t
resist showing you some of the sites I encountered in Savannah. Enjoy!
Until next week!
Blessings,
Andrea
May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul
prospers (3 John 2).
