Mary Leigh Snowden
While in St. Louis one day a missionary asked me why I did all the driving around Missouri? I told him I drove so that my husband who is the state evangelism/discipleship strategist could do his emails, answer and make phone calls, and catch up on his writing. “Makes sense,” he said. I like to think of my driving as a small contribution in helping Mark to be the most effective he can be in serving Missouri Baptists. They have entrusted him with a great task, and he eagerly and enthusiastically accepts it.
Yes, I am the one who drives, and I really enjoy it. Plus, I get to see and experience the Missouri roads. However, it finally happened. One day I got my picture taken crawling through a red stoplight at 14 mph in a 20 mph zone. The problem was I was trying to listen to my GPS and my husband’s voice at the same time and their directions did not match. In my indecision, I slowed down to a crawl and did not realize the light was now red! The black and white picture arrived and as plain as the nose on my face I was running the red light. Since this is a Convention car I drive I knew that “the powers that be” were looking at the photo, too. Thank goodness I looked okay in my big, dark sunglasses; but what would they think and what would they say? I know they want us to be careful and courteous on the road, and I was nervous about what might happen. The only remarks made were, “Just pay the fine.” Naturally, it was understood by all that this payment would be out of the Snowden pocket. I was thankful that was all that happened. They let me off easy.
It got me thinking though. Trying to listen to two voices led to my demise. You have to decide whose voice is the one to follow. Who is your Master? Do you know that voice? You can truly only follow one so you need to be sure you can put all your confidence and trust in that one. It reminds me of the Scripture where it says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me,” John 10:27. When we don’t follow our Master’s voice we can get in all kinds of trouble. If we don’t even know our Master’s voice, we are sure to mess things up. We must train our ears and heart to hear Him even in the most confusing of times. Day or night, sunlight and darkness, calm or stormy, we must use His voice as our guiding beacon. I want to follow my Master, I need to follow my Master, but sometimes the noise of life and living drowns out His voice and I take the wrong path or make a bad decision. I have to pay for those decisions, but He is always there for the next journey wanting me to follow Him. When life slows down to a crawl of indecision listen to The Voice of your Master. He wants to help you. He wants to bless you. “For He knows the plans He has for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future,” Jer. 29:11.
By the way, most people want to know who was right, the GPS or my sweet honey. Turns out my husband’s voice was the one to listen to for the best route. Next time I will tune my ear toward his directions and avoid the embarrassment of crawling through a red light and save myself a $100 fine!