Isaiah 35:8-9 – There will be a road there. This highway will be called "The Holy Road." … There will be no dangers on that road. … That road will be for the people God saves. (ERV)

When I was young, back in the Alaskan bush, we had to fly in and out of mining camps as my father and grandfather were prospectors. There were no year-round roads, due to seasonal melting of the permafrost. One time when the plane didn't come, we got a message over shortwave radio, our only communication. Our pilot had received a better offer from a party of hunters and had taken the plane in which we regularly flew. They were sending another. When the second plane arrived, my mother was still indignant that we'd been pushed aside. As we flew over the dark, fir-covered mountains, we saw something red below. Crashed into the side of a mountain was the wreckage of the little red plane that we would have been on. Everyone on board had been killed. We were living in the hand of God.

Later, during World War II, while my father was away, mother was hanging diapers on a line strung between two trees. Suddenly an enemy plane appeared, flying low. Mother grabbed my sister and I and fled to a root cellar, dug out of the hillside. There we huddled till my father returned. He was afraid that the string of diapers might have looked like a signal. Just then, we heard a plane landing. Had they returned? My father went to the door. It was the U.S. Marines in a hurry to evacuate us. We were living in the hand of God.

We moved to a small cabin near Fairbanks, Alaska, and my father went back prospecting. In the night, a fire started and burned that cabin to the ground. At 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-45.5 degrees Celsius), it was so cold that water froze in the firemen's hoses when they came to help. Miraculously, we didn't burn inside the cabin. We were living in the hand of God.

These are pieces of my past. Some people live in the past wishing it were better. Others, who buy lottery tickets, live in the future. Our past is history, our future a mystery. Both are prisons. Our only chance at freedom is to live today with our hand in the hand of God.

Isaiah 40:28-29a,31a – Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is an eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom. He gives strength to those who are tired. Those who wait for the Lord's help find renewed strength, they rise up as if they had eagles' wings. (NET)

Prayer: Dear God, You remind us not to fear the future since You are already there. Keep us walking on Your great highway with our hand in Yours. Thank You for continuing to provide experiences that confirm Your faithfulness. Teach us to know Your voice and daily to trust in Your Word. Amen.

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About the author:

Rose DeShaw <rise370@gmail.com>
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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