A Winter Prayer

My husband and I took a road trip to California recently. In mid-February. Voluntarily. With all available weather data consulted. We went anyway.

We stayed on the Interstates because of the possibility of such dicey weather. We hit the first wave of weather in southern Idaho the first night. It was pitch black, the wind was howling feriously, and the torrential rain threatened to turn to ice and/or snow at any second as the temperatures hovered near freezing. My husband is an amazingly safe and capable driver with decades of experience in all types of weather. And he hates to fly. I trust him completely.

But eventually my anxiety took a firm hold on me – suffice it to say there were lots of silent tears and great internal stress. For 30 minutes I tried to calm myself by visualizing a sandy, sunny beach with the waves gently progressing up the beach. I also prayed to God to make it stop! Bad weather and slick road conditions have always been a trigger for me as my only brother died in a car accident on icy roads when I was 15. But in my defense, I was also anxious, tired, and literally scared to death. I was not thinking clearly. Don’t misunderstand, I was never angry with God, nor did I yell or scream at Him (or my husband, I promise). I was simply terrified and not thinking clearly.

Finally, reason made a brief appearance in my brain. I took a deep breath and spoke to God:

“God the Father, I love you. Take control of my heart and my head and take away my fear. God the Son, sit beside me and hold my hand. God the Holy Spirit, come live within me.”

Within just a few minutes my fear and anxiety evaporated – although the rain and wind did not. The storm raged on but only outside now. I was suddenly quite calm and at peace. This calmness and total trust in our triune God continued for the entirety of our trip (including mountain passes and adverse weather conditions) and continues today. I can't explain it any better than that. I just stopped feeling the fear - truly an experience I will not soon forget.

Prayer is powerful; however, we must ask for what we need rather than what we want! I did and it made all the difference in the world.