No U-Turn Allowed

BIG SHOUT OUT TO MY NEW FRIEND LARRY AT BAREFOOTLOGIC. He created this fantastic webpage for me. I cannot say thank you enough times to him for helping me. Having a blog has been a goal of mine for a while, and I thought I would never reach “the season” for it. When God passed out patience, I’m telling you, I was off somewhere picking berries instead of getting mine. So thankful and excited to see what God will do with this blog. Now for my first post!

Have you ever been on the wrong side of the road? Maybe? Maybe not? Unfortunately, I have many times. One memory that still cracks me up happened about fifteen years ago. Tim and I had stretched our finances to the max at that time, bought a rinky-dink camper, and reserved a space at a campground on the lake in Marion, NC. I say rinky-dink, meaning it barely met the allowed specifications for the campground. Our lot was right on the water, and it was one of my favorite things we did as a family. It wasn’t cheap. But it was one of those “events” that would fit the famous credit card commercial because the memories we made there are priceless to me. 

Typically we would pull out of our house, boat in tow, on a Friday evening. Once at the campground, we hit the water. We would spend Friday evening and Saturday fishing and playing in the water. When Sunday morning rolled around, we were up early, making the trip back home in time for Sunday school and preaching at church. This routine involved a quick run-through at McDonald’s, and we ate in the car. On one particular morning, I must have been more coffee-deprived than usual. My daughter Brena was in the car with me, and Devan was riding with my husband, Tim. Brena and I were in the lead and ordered our food first. Then we pulled up to the traffic light. 

I began unwrapping my biscuit and praising God for my sugar-free vanilla latte, but not Brena. Instead of indulging in her breakfast, she could do nothing but panic and yell at me that I was on the wrong side of the intersection. For a brief moment, I looked around, examining what was around me, and concluded that I wasn’t. And I even informed her that I had plenty of sense to drive a vehicle. That’s when she pointed out that if I was on the right side of the highway, I should see a median on my side. Agreeing, I looked out the window on my side of the car, and to my horror, there was no median! 

By this time, Tim and Devan are rolling up to the light on the correct side of the highway, blowing their horn, and screaming the question, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” to me while other drivers are attempting to squeeze by me. Well, there is no backing up, there is no driving over the median, and the light will not change because it isn’t supposed to. So, I did what any other woman would do if she had pulled up on the wrong side, and I ran the red light.

It wasn’t long before my cell phone rang, and Tim and Devan started with the jokes. Funny as it is now, it sure wasn’t during the moment of realization and panic. The words “wrong side” can reference objects other than a highway. In the Bible, many folks have found themselves on the “wrong side.” I imagine they, too, had a lot of panic during their realization moment. I can’t imagine the panic and pain someone will have during their final flight when their destiny realization is hell. 

Lucky for me, on all the physical roads I have been on, I have been able to look around and figure a way out, even if it does involve running a red light. And many of the “wrong-sided” decisions I have made in life, I have also been able to devise a second plan and find my way back to the side of rightness. But hell isn’t that way. There are no red lights to run or plan Bs to play. Instead, it’s a panic and realization that I believe many will have in common with the rich man in the parable of the rich man and the beggar in Luke 16:19-31.

In this parable, a beggar named Lazarus sits at the entrance to the rich man’s home. Every day he begged and wanted to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Finally, both men die; angels carry the beggar to Abraham’s side, and the rich man goes to hell. The rich man looks up and sees Lazarus and Abraham from a distance. He begs for Lazarus to dip his finger in water and place it on his tongue. But Abraham tells the rich man there is a “chasm” (gorge, abyss, and gulf are all good synonyms for chasm) between heaven and hell, and one cannot travel to the other. The rich man then begs for Lazarus to go tell his brothers because he doesn’t want anyone else to experience this. Abraham tells him those left here have Moses and Prophets to tell them. And, if they don’t listen to them, then they won’t listen to a dead man. 

Moses isn’t here, so now what? Now, it’s up to believers to share God’s word and to tell others about Him. Our testimonies are important. We gather encouragement from God and through each other. Sharing our lives, health issues, prayer requests, and answered prayers are a few platforms we all have in common. What story can you share about God? I’m sure there is someone else at this very moment who needs it. Let’s tell as many God stories as we can because there are no u-turns in hell. We have to take as many folks as we can with us to heaven.