Let me finish the story I started yesterday. Back in 1980 I found myself alone, on the top of Mt. Rogers (the highest mountain in Virginia), in the middle of a storm with high winds and rain. I was so high on the mountain that I was in a cloud (like being in heavy fog). I was on a gravel road and had missed the place where the trail turned. It was almost completely dark. I was in terrible trouble and knew it could be life-threatening. All I could do was walk and pray and try to find shelter somewhere. I had no idea where the road was leading, and I knew that it could go on for many miles.
Then I heard it, very faint at first.....but it was certainly a sound. What was it? It seemed to get gradually louder. After a while I realized that it was the sound of a car engine. Did I dare to hope that some crazy person was actually driving on the gravel road at night in the middle of a storm? As the sound of the engine grew closer, and closer I stood in the middle of the gravel road furiously waving my arms. It WAS a car! I wish I could describe the look the faces of the two guys in the car. I was wearing my bright red rain parka and I remember one of the guys saying "your face is the same color as your jacket!"
Without hesitation they invited me into the back seat. I was SAVED! "Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!" Believe me, I was a wretch...freezing cold, shivering, soaked to the skin, ravenously hungry, and utterly exhausted. I had to explain how I wound up on the top of the mountain. Then I had to find out why two twenty-something guys were driving on top of the mountain! They were on a road trip. One of them used to live near Mt. Rogers and remembered the road at the top. They thought it would be great fun to drive to the top, so they did.
When Paul was on the road to Damascus in the Bible, God revealed Himself in a powerful way. When I was lost, alone, and in trouble on the top of Mt Rogers, God sent a couple of joyriders to rescue me. It's not anything I could have done myself. I might have been able to survive the night on the mountain with my equipment and training, but I would probably have ended up in a hospital (and I could have died). The two guys drove me back to the hiker hostel in Damascus and dropped me off. Sometimes I imagine that the two guys and the car morphed into two angels after they passed out of view, then sat down to talk about the experience while waiting for their next assignment!
Here in 2011 I still have a lot of memories. I have learned over the years to trust God in my life and that has had a major impact. I have learned not to intentionally do stupid things, but I have also learned that God can rescue me when I need it the most.
For those of you keeping track, I weighed in at 182.0 pounds today, virtually unchanged from yesterday. Jim Sipe gave me a bunch of homemade Brunswick stew yesterday, it sure was good!
No comments:
Post a Comment