Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Surprised (09/06/07)
-
TITLE: Intersections | Previous Challenge Entry
By Joy Bach
09/06/07 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
Life has intersections too. Some of us feel like we live in a life that has an intersection every block and some of us have a life of meandering before we get to that intersection. But we all have them.
I reached my very first intersection when I was just a few hours old. I didn’t know I had reached one, but with the death of my father, the life I would have lived was forever changed. Suddenly our little family had no income, and I was raised in a household that struggled to have enough food.
When I was 15, I found myself at another huge intersection. My church decided that I would marry the preacher’s son. I never dated. He and I attended church together. And then we married while I was still in high school.
When I was 30, I arrived at an intersection that had been invisible around the bend. My husband suddenly left us. I had no job, no money and three children.
Are you thinking of some of the intersections in your life?
You cannot go on a journey without coming to intersections.
The Bible tells of a man who reached a huge intersection……….and his life was forever changed.
In Acts, it tells us that Saul had been an official witness in Jerusalem at the stoning of Stephen. He had heard Stephen’s last words when he prayed, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin.” It must have infuriated Saul, because he went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into jail.
He was so eager to destroy the Lord’s followers that he went to the high priest and requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking their cooperation in the arrest of any followers he found there. He was willing to walk 150 miles to complete this undertaking!!!
Saul was traveling down the road from Jerusalem to Damascus, intent on carrying out his plans.
HE CAME TO A HUGE INTERSECTION!!!!!!
A blinding light from heaven shone down on him and he fell to the ground. And then he heard a voice. The men that were traveling with Saul were speechless. They heard a voice but saw no one. They were at an intersection of their own.
Saul had been blinded and had to be led by his companions into Damascus.
Let’s leave that intersection and go across town to a different one. The Lord was telling a man named Ananias to go visit Saul. Ananias knew who Saul was. He knew Saul’s agenda.
Ananias stood at an intersection.
What if he hadn’t taken that walk across town to visit Saul?
What kind of intersection are you facing? Will you continue going straight? Or will you make that turn and change your life forever?
Saul became a preacher. Talk about a drastic change. So much so that even his name changed. He became Paul.
No matter your age, you will still come to intersections.
One day I spoke in my daughter’s middle school Speech class. Sitting in the front row was a girl with horrible scars running down her cheeks. She had been scalped when her hair was caught in a piece of machinery. It had pulled the skin from her face.
SHE HAD REACHED A HUGE INTERSECTION IN HER LIFE!!!!
My topic that day was “intersections”. She understood.
One boy talked about the intersection his uncle had reached when he had gone hunting with a friend and the friend had been accidentally shot. His uncle held his friend while he died. That intersection caused him to become an alcoholic.
Last weekend, I helped move a lady from an apartment to her daughter’s house. This lady is in her 80’s and has reached a huge intersection in her life. She has always been very independent. And now she no longer has a spot that is just hers. It’s not an easy intersection.
Think about the intersections in your life. How well are you handling them?
No matter how huge your intersection, you can make it safely through if you keep your focus on Jesus. He will take that turn with you and walk down the new path beside you. And if you get too weary or afraid, He will carry you in His arms, close to His chest.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
I'm not sure how "on topic" it is, though.
I'd love to know more about your very early, forced marriage, and also about the scareed girl. Both of those would make very strong stories on their own merits.