
But there was a price to pay for this remote beauty.
It’s called . . . No Service.
It happened multiple times, but most notably on my way home. I was driving US 37 in Montana next to Lake Koocanusa. It was absolutely beautiful, but there wasn’t a town for 69 very windy miles, and I watched my cell service go from multiple bars, to one, then to SOS, and then—to nothing.
I felt a sense of unease. I hadn’t seen a car in my review mirror for miles, and couldn’t remember the last time a car came from the other direction. By my calculations, if I broke down, the buzzards could eat me before anyone would find me.
I took a deep breath and prayed. “God, you’ve been with me this entire trip. You’ve seen me safely to my destination. I pray you see me safely home. If I should break down, I pray that you provide the assistance I need. Thank you.”
I took another deep breath and felt myself calm. And then realized something.
I wasn’t without service. God still had me as he had the entire time. While man’s network wasn’t working, God was.
Then the verses came flooding back.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place … Proverbs 15:3
You know when I sit down and when I rise up … Psalm 139:2
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 121:8
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Psalm 121:2
Man cannot promise a world free of glitches and malfunctions or that we will always have human help available. But God . . .
Those two words will take ALL uncertainty out of a very uncertain world. Any situation that looks hopeless, just say those two words and you will remember that God has overcome it.
I am stranded, but God sees me and knows where I am and knows what I need.
I am sick, but God is the Great Physician.
I have done some unpardonable things, but God is the God of mercy and grace and redemption. He makes “all things new.”
Remember . . .
But God . . .