The decision to follow the deserted back road and find our way slowly out of the Redwood National Forest didn’t seem to have any danger; we didn’t mind the slower pace as the day was beautiful, the wildflowers were blooming, and the road was mostly even. We were thrilled to see a bear, and we thoroughly enjoyed all of the beauty on the way down out of the forest toward the main road.
But then, as we zigzagged back and forth down the steep California hills, the brakes on our car began to smell overworked. My husband found a pullout on a hairpin curve and parked the car. We rolled down the windows and enjoyed the afternoon breeze, unconcerned with the short delay. We were spending a wonderful weekend in the northern California redwoods and didn’t mind making our way slowly to our hotel for the night. Even though we still had a couple of hours of driving, we were in no hurry.
After the brakes had cooled down, my husband restarted the vehicle leaving the windows down. Then, as we pulled out onto the road again, we heard a distinct whooshing noise. It puzzled us until we fully rounded the corner. There we saw a large redwood tree that had fallen across the road we were on, just the moment before! We could still see the leaves trembling and the dust rising from the impact.
Again we stopped the car and this time the three of us got out to discover how bad the problem was. It didn’t take long to realize that this obstacle was enough to completely stop us in our journey. Then we began to discuss how long it had been since we had seen any other cars ... how long had it been since we had even seen another road ... how long had we been traveling totally carefree down this single road out of the forest ... and how long would we have to retrace our path to find another way out? The tree felt like an impossible roadblock. It may as well have been a mountain in our road, because there was no way we could move it.
Do you ever feel like you are suddenly in an impossible situation, like you are stuck and there is no way out? The Lord Jesus talked about how a small amount of faith, like a grain of mustard seed, is enough to move mountains. When you are faced with a problem, do you trust God to move it? I confess I wasn’t actually thinking about trusting God right then. Instead, I was considering how much longer we would have to be in the car and feeling a bit sorry for myself. Do you think God is pleased when we complain about a situation He has allowed in our lives? We know He isn’t! One time when the Israelites complained, He was so displeased that many of them died.
Well, I am happy to tell you that I didn’t get much of a chance to complain. Our God is so gracious that He had prepared the way out of our problem even before it had happened. Suddenly, though there had been no cars in sight for so long, right behind us came a string of cars, one after the other. Each one held part of the solution. One man had a hatchet. Another person had a tow chain. A pickup truck had four-wheel drive. The tree had been rotten, which was the reason it fell over, and as it came down, it had cracked and broken. When the chain was attached to one end and the truck pulled with the chain, the tree finished breaking and half of it got pulled clear of the road. The man with the hatchet used it to cut away the remaining small limbs to make a path wide enough for cars to pull through. In only about 20 minutes we were on our way once again, amazed at what had just happened. First, the Lord kept the tree from falling on us. He then had everyone lined up to clear the tree from our path with hardly any delay. That day we saw that God can move trees, and we know from the Bible that He can move mountains, too, for those who believe in Him. (See Matthew 21:2121Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. (Matthew 21:21).) Jesus said, “If [you] have faith ... nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:2020And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (Matthew 17:20)).
You may have bigger problems in your life than a tree in the road, that look impossible. But God knows about them, and He cares about you. He has never failed anyone who trusts in Him. He can help you with your problems just as He helped us that day. He says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver [you] and [you will] glorify Me” (Psalm 50:1515And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psalm 50:15)).
Do you know this wonderful God as your own Father through the Lord Jesus Christ? You can!
Messages of God’s Love 2/20/2022