On the freeway at night travelling at 100kms/hour, there were storm clouds hovering above me . . . then they opened up and those storm clouds let everything out!  And I mean EVERYTHING!  As the rain came down harder and harder, my windscreen wipers were increased to top speed . . .  and that still wasn’t enough.  It was difficult to see the road for the rain haze, and my little 2 door hatch was feeling like she might just glide at any moment.  So I slowed down to 8okms/hr.

Slow and steady wins the race . . . except in this case, there is no race to get home, just to get home safely.  But the vehicles coming up behind me didn’t share my theory . . . and so they in their large sedans and 4 wheel drives pulled out from behind me, and overtook me at the legal speed.

Along the way, there was of moment of reprieve . . . and I mean like a 1 second moment . . . as I went under a bridge which sheltered me from the downpour.  That moment of silence was golden, but gone in an instant.  I contemplated the idea of pulling over (under the next bridge) for a longer reprieve, until the storm had passed . . . but then who knows how long that will take?  So I decided I was better off to just keep on going at the speed I was comfortable with . . .

Singing always helps!  So I turned the radio up, above the noise of the storm and sang!  Sang my heart out, LOUDER than the storm! But then the traffic volume picked up . . . and so my radio was turned off so I would not be distracted by anything.  Sometimes I just need silence to be able to concentrate with no possibility for distraction.  But that silence quickly turned to praying when the thunder started . . .

Then came another bridge . . . and the advertising sign was:

And then another bridge . . . and the advertising sign was:

. . . and so I kept on driving . . . without stopping . . . to get through the storm . . . rather than be out in the storm longer than I wanted or needed to be.

Sometimes the storms of life let everything they have out on us . . . in one massive hit . . . like a bladder that’s been waiting TOOOOO long! 

As a result, it can be difficult to see the road ahead, and you feel like the ‘wheels of life’ might just lose control.  While you feel you have to travel at a slower pace, everyone else around you continues as normal.  I guess they’ve got more weight under them, and they’re better equipped to handle the conditions around them.  But each to their own . . . as to their own capacity and ability.

The bridge: each one was a moment of reprieve . . . but any one of them could have become my time of delay, delaying me out in the storm, if I had decided to stop.  But I had to push through the fear of the storm: the rain, the thunder, night driving, the other vehicles speeding past me, the water coming up off their wheels at me, the sound of the water underneath my wheels, and the ‘feeling’ of not being secure on my wheels.  But to ultimately believe in the tread that I know is there, despite my feelings. 

Don’t let your moment of reprieve, become your time of delay.

And so the bridge became my encouragement.  Not for stopping under it, but for the message that it carried as part of it. 

Believe for better!

Too right!  Believe that there is better on the other side of the storm. 

. . . and

You’re in the driver’s seat.

So don’t be stopping in the storm.  As the driver, you’re in control.  You make the choices. Sometimes we need to be reminded of this.  So many choices: as the billboard says “Choose from over 100 fabrics.”

So if you’re in a storm:

Move forward in spite of those fears. 

Don’t be discouraged by those around you.

Know your capacity and ability.

Don’t give in to the feelings . . .

But have faith in the tread that’s carrying you.

Do what is necessary to keep moving forward:

sing your heart out,

know when it’s time to be silent,

pray like crazy!

What’s the fabric you’re choosing for your life?

Believe for the best, and aim for that!

And if you see someone in the storm then:

Be a bridge that carries a message of encouragement through the storm,

rather than being a place to delay in the storm.