Surviving Chaos

I am so excited. I saw my first moose. I realize that for those of you who live in North Country, this is not a big deal. Many of you have seen a moose or several meese (plural form of moose, right?) However, for someone who’s only experience with seeing a moose was at a zoo, on the Discovery Channel, or the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoons, seeing the moose was a big deal.

We were coming back to Long Lake from Saranac Lake. We had finished doing our preparation shopping for our month of visitors when half way between Tupper Lake and home, a Penske moving truck approached us from the opposite direction. As we got closer, I noticed the driver making a funny face; fingers all extended and placed at the top of his head like antlers. At first, I thought he was trying to be funny. However, the more I thought about it, I became more concerned that he didn’t have his hands on the steering wheel. After he passed us, I began to mediate on the face of the driver and the possible message he was trying to send me. About a mile up the road, I saw half dozen cars pulled over. Slowly, his intentions began to make sense. He wasn’t trying to be funny. He wasn’t trying to make fun of me or make me upset. He was warning us of the potentially dangerous and definitely beautiful event that awaited us. We slowed down, pulled in behind the other cars, and watched the moose until she faded back into nature’s protective arms.

Imagine if I had ignored the message and shrugged it off as someone making a fool of himself. Imagine if I had not stopped and kept going past the pulled over cars. I would have missed a rare and impacting experience, not only for myself but also for my family.
God’s message has a lot to offer us but often we ignore the message or blow by the chance to experience the fullness of God in our lives. Then we complain to ourselves that we don’t see God working in our lives or hear His voice speaking to us. Truth is we are often the loudest voice in our lives and we block ourselves from experiencing God’s fullness. No wonder God tells us to, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10a). When we get wrapped up in life, we miss hearing from God, seeing Him work in our lives, and fail to experience the great things He has for us. As summer approaches, make sure your taking time to BE STILL and KNOW that GOD IS GOD. The experience could change your life.