Emergency Flashers

It seems to me that they just cleared enough trees to build the roads.
My dear friend from Colorado said that the last time she visited me.
I am used to driving around here and don’t really think about it.
She is right!

I always smile when I see a tree trimmed in such a way to accommodate the power lines.
I am in awe of the massive trunks of some of the trees.
They are so close to the road as if to say, We were here first.

If you are not used to windy roads, it may be difficult to drive here.
One road in particular, that runs along the Brandywine River, demands care.
In this bucolic setting, roads between trees are breathtaking.
As a driver, you can’t take your eyes off the road for a minute.

The all-news station I listen to each morning has a great expression.
The traffic reports say it every day: Keep your eyes peeled.
Most times, they are referring to deer darting across the road.
Keep your eyes peeled is good advice every day.

I was meeting a friend for breakfast and was driving on the curvy road along the river.
As I approached a curve that literally turns on itself, a car was coming towards me.
The car’s emergency flashers were blinking.
There was nothing out of the ordinary in front of me.

The only thing coming up was this big curve.
I cautiously approached the curve and rounded the bend.
There in front of me was a trash truck.
The trash man was trying to cross the road with the large wheeled trashcan.

Cars were backed up behind the trash truck, which was obviously making multiple stops.
Thankfully no one tried to get in front of the truck on this bad curve.
Had they tried to do that, they would have hit me.
Neither one of us would have seen the other coming.

The view was obstructed.
As I drove safely on, I thought of the car with the emergency flashers.
How grateful I was for the warning.

I drove the rest of the way to the restaurant to meet my friend and thought of the curve.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we encountered others with emergency flashers along life’s road?
Wouldn’t it be nice if the dangerous curves were clearly labeled?

Abraham had a nephew named Lot.
Both men had many flocks, herds, and tents.
The land could not support them both as they traveled together.
So out of necessity, Abraham and Lot separated; each going their own way.

Lot looked around and decided that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered.
Lot chose the area around Sodom to settle.
Abraham lived in the land of Canaan.

There was great sin in the land of Sodom.
Three visitors came to Abraham and his wife Sarah announcing that she will have a son.
Such an announcement is not unusual unless you are beyond childbearing years.
Both Abraham and Sarah were much too old to have children.

Abraham was also warned that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were to be destroyed.
His nephew, Lot, was there.

The two men said to Lot, Do you have anyone else here, sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it. So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away…” Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus He overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities, and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:12-17,24-26)

Like the car with its emergency flashers, Abraham and Lot were warned.
Warnings, when heeded, are to our benefit.
Warnings, when ignored, are often deadly.

Perhaps it was volcanic eruptions that the Lord used to destroy the cities.
Lot’s wife disobeyed and looked back, longing for the life she once had there.
She has become a symbol of indecision.

Jesus talks about Lot’s wife as an example of what not to do.
Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Luke 17:32, 33)

There is no time for indecision when you are warned.
Warnings are an example of God’s grace.
How often we ignore them.
We never know what is around the bend so we must keep our eyes peeled.

God’s Word is like the car with the emergency flashers blinking.
The warnings are there.
The Hope is there.
Both need to be heeded!