Stay Close To Me

I remember years ago a friend had to go drop off his vehicle at a garage to get worked on during our vacation. He had told me that I would need to follow him to the garage in our car so that he could have a ride home.

I asked him a few days before we left where exactly we were going and he told me the name of some town that I'd never heard of, much less had visited. I shrugged my shoulders and figured that he knew the way.

The day to leave came and as we were ready to walk out the door, I asked him again to tell me where we were going to so that I would have some sort of idea in my mind. Again he only told me the name of the town. I asked him to give me specific details of the trip, like how long it would take us, how many miles, and where exactly this garage was. He quickly told me a couple of details about the surrounding area and left it there, but I wanted more.

I've always been a person who had to have the exact plan laid out for me and know exactly where I'm going before I jump in a car and take off. I like to have some semblance of organization, even if it is in my own mind, lol. I've always been a planner, so his way of doing things that day left me feeling a bit disturbed and irritated.

On the way to the driveway, I again asked him to tell me what the building looked like and what other businesses it was near it in case I got separated from him. He turned around and looked at me as if I had three heads. He told me not to worry so much, just follow him. I agreed and went on my way.

We drove for about two hours with me following him as closely as I could. I felt if I could just see his tail lights ahead of me, I would be fine. After several exits and turns here and there, I lost him. I let him get out of sight. I could no longer see him ahead of me.

I started to panic and I could feel my pulse race. I had no clue where I was or where I was going. I picked up my cell phone to call him but the signal strength was poor. I could hear it ring a couple of times and then nothing. I keep saying, hello and asking if he could hear me, but I heard nothing so I hung up.

I didn't know what to do and I started to fall apart. My breathing sped up, my hands were shaking, my head began to pound. I was lost and I was scared. I pulled over on the side of the road and began to cry. I looked around and knew that I was completely lost with no idea of where to go or what to do. I sat there for a couple more minutes crying and wringing my hands when my phone rang. I picked it up to see that signal had come back and it was my friend. He asked where I'd gone to because he didn't see me behind him anymore. I explained that he'd somehow gotten out of sight and I lost him. He laughed. I told him it wasn't funny and that I was afraid because I didn't know what to do. I also told him how if he'd just told me in the first place exactly where I was going, then none of this would have happened. He came back with his response of I told you to stay close and follow me. I cried because I knew that he was right. I told him I tried my best to stay close but something must have happened to put some distance between us, thereby allowing me to lose sight of him.

He explained that if I just get back on the road and keep going, I'll eventually see him. I put the car in drive and asked that he stay on the phone with me until I got there because I was afraid of being alone. He agreed and I pulled out. Less than thirty seconds later, I rounded a curve to see him sitting at the garage with a couple of other guys.

He smiled as I pulled in and I felt stupid. I was so close to him the whole time but didn't know it. I had stopped just short of getting there. One more curve and a few more seconds and I would have arrived at our destination. But instead, when I could no longer see him, I fell apart and panicked. I became scared and stopped just short of my goal.

Has that ever happened to you? I bet it has because we are all human and we all do the same things. We are all like-minded and have the same emotions. Some of us are a little better at not panicking so easily, though. But there comes a point in life where the journey seems too long without clear instructions and we feel lost.

It's that way with God. He doesn't always give us a clear path of where we are going in life. He just asks that we follow Him closely and trust Him to know the way.

Like my friend who kept saying, "stay close, I know the way", that's how God is. He wants us to stay close to him because He knows the way. He has a plan for us even though we don't see it at the time, all He's asking is that we stay close to Him. And never stop at any point because you might stop just shy of your destination like I did. Don't grow weary and just quit. Keep on going and God will get you there.

Much love,

Christy

Helpful verses:

2 Corinthians 5:7; Proverbs 3:5; Deuteronomy 5:33; Galatians 6:9