Standing at the Peace Arch, looking over towards the Canadian border crossing I couldn’t help but think of my dear friend P who was stopped at this very border crossing … and it just might have saved her life.
P is now in heaven with Jesus, but a few years ago she was in a very stressful difficult season of life, as her husband (who had battled cancer for many years) was hospitalized and nearing the end of his life.
Every day P would go down to the hospital to be with her husband. And every evening P would drive the long (almost hour) journey back to her home.
Getting on the freeway from the hospital can be rather tricky. Hubby and I have gotten turned around here a time or two, and if you accidentally wind up on the wrong freeway going the wrong direction, it is not easy to get off and get back on again in the right direction. You have to drive several miles out of the way, and it’s very confusing.
I’m guessing this must have happened to P when she was trying to get on the freeway to go back home. She must have accidentally wound up on the wrong freeway, going in the wrong direction.
Whatever the case … P left the hospital in the afternoon after spending the day with her husband … and she drove and drove and drove … until she was stopped at this border crossing right here.
At the border crossing the border patrol asked her who she was and where she was going.
She didn’t know.
P honestly had no idea who she was or where she lived. She had no idea that she was at the Canadian border, about to cross over into Canada. She had no idea she had just driven for several hours to get to this border. She couldn’t remember anything. Evidently P must have had some sort of mini stroke or something which affected her brain.
It’s a miracle that P had driven for several hours in this condition without any sort of vehicle accident. God was taking care of her!
What if she had accidentally wound up on a freeway which was not blocked by a border crossing?? What if she had wound up on a freeway going east across the Cascades?? She probably would have driven and driven until she ran out of gas and wound up stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in far eastern Washington or maybe even Idaho. And no one would have had any idea where she was.
It was very scary for all of us to think about.
But God was with P.
God was taking care of P.
God used a border crossing to stop P.
As I stood at the Peace Arch gazing over towards the Canadian border crossing, I couldn’t help but think what a wonderful person P was! She loved others well. She lived her life to the fullest.
And even when things got hard, God was looking after her and taking care of her.
It brings to mind Psalm 73:23-24 – “I am always with you, God; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.”
God was holding P “by her right hand” … and God has since taken P to glory to be Him.
When it comes to each of our own lives, there are distinct times when God stops each one of us at a metaphorical “border crossing.”
Sometimes we are headed in a wrong direction in life and about to make a very foolish decision which will cause us ruin later on down the road. And God stops us at a “border crossing.”
God asks us (whether through the Holy Spirit speaking deep down in our soul, or whether through close friends or perhaps a trusted counselor): “Who are you?” … and … “Where are you going?”
Sometimes we are like P and we are in a season of life which is very stressful and difficult … and we get “turned around” as we head down our “roadway of life.” We wind up going in the wrong direction for our life, but we don’t realize it because of the difficulty we are going through. And God stops us at a “border crossing.”
God asks us (whether through the Holy Spirit speaking deep down in our soul, or maybe through close friends or a trusted counselor): “Who are you?” … and … “Where are you going?”
And we reply: I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.
By stopping us at this “border crossing” God is taking care of us. God is protecting us.
We don’t know who we are. We don’t know where we are going. We don’t have a clue what we are doing with our life. All we know is that we are “driving” and “driving” and “driving.” We honestly don’t know what else to do. We’re just “driving” wherever this “road” is taking us.
In our brokenness and confusion, God reminds us who we are – we are His. (if we are a follower of Jesus Christ). God reminds us of our identity: we are loved … we are chosen … we are adopted into God’s heavenly family … we are a child of God … we are a son/daughter of the King of Kings.
We are forgiven. We are not condemned. We are covered by grace.
We belong to Jesus. We are protected. We are helped. We are held.
We are guided. We are instructed. We are not alone.
We are empowered and equipped. We are surrounded by God’s care. We are secure.
And just like the border patrol got in contact with P’s family and they came immediately to the border crossing to help her and take care of her, so also when God metaphorically stops us at a “border crossing” in our life, God likewise has “family members” (others who are part of God’s heavenly family – other Christians) whom he sends to help us.
God uses “border crossings” in our life to redirect us.
God has a good plan for our life. Sometimes getting stopped at a “border crossing” is how God chooses to redirect and guide us in the good way he has planned for us.
“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me.” – Psalm 25:4-5
“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” – Psalm 25:9
“If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his right hand.” – Psalm 37:23-24
