(Guest post by Abigail Hamilton)

I had just come through a good, yet exhausting week of camp. Besides being a children’s worker at the campmeeting, I also happened to get a sinus infection that made me feel most miserable for a couple of days. And after everything was done and said, I just wanted to get back home.

My plane was scheduled to leave at 5:30 PM out of Mesa, Arizona, and would land around 8:30 PM back in Wichita, Kansas. It was suggested that I should just spend the night one more night in Wichita before driving the two hours back to my house in Independence.

But, deep down, I just wanted to get home.

Now, many of my family and friends were worried because I have a problem with driving long distances (anything over an hour really). I guess I could label my issue “road hypnosis.” When I get behind the wheel, all of a sudden, I mysteriously get sleepy. I can ride for hours in the passenger seat and be fine, but as soon as I get in the driver’s seat, I start to fall asleep the majority of the time.

Having said this, you know why my mother was very hesitant when I told her that I was planning on going ahead and driving this night along the deer-infested, ill-lit highway.  (I had never driven this particular road at night by myself.)

She seemed especially nervous when she found out my plane had been delayed, and I wouldn’t be getting into Wichita until after 10 PM. Waiting by my gate in Mesa though, I had already settled it. I was going home. As I boarded my plane weary and tired, I had already settled it…as soon as I landed back in Kansas, I was going home.

By the time I had picked up my bags from the carousel and had climbed into my little white Ford Focus, it was past 11 PM.

Friends of mine warned me they had about had a collision with a deer just the previous week on the road I’d be traveling.

But, deep down, I just wanted to get home.

Between God’s help and an energy drink, I stayed amazingly alert the whole two hours.

But as I drove down that dark, dark road, the thought hit me. “I can make it, if my desire to make it home is stronger than my want to sleep.”

---

I can make it, if my desire to make it home is stronger than my want to sleep.

The tears streamed down my face as I cried out to God, “Oh Lord, the night’s dark and the hour’s late. Any moment something might jump out in front of me causing me to wreck. Yes, I want to rest. But, Lord, I want to make it home.” Friends, the spiritual reality was undeniable.

To be honest as I rode along, it seemed more people were headed in the other direction. Back to the place I just came from. Fewer people were headed in my direction…home. How true. So many are throwing up their hands in defeat or just getting deceived in this day and age.

In fact, as the oncoming cars would pass me, especially the semis, the force would create a vacuum that would shake my little car and try to pull me to the left.

So many it seems are headed back, to the place I just left. And it can shake you down to the core when you realize that the people you had utmost confidence in are headed back.

The night is disorienting. You can easily miss your turn or get off on the wrong exit.

However, there were three things that helped me to finally pull into my driveway.

The first was my GPS. It told me where to go and where to get off. It told me to speed up or slow down. It told to keep right, even if the other cars would switch over to the left lanes. I never thought I knew the way so well that I turned down the voice. It’s guidance was crucial.

The Holy Spirit is a faithful Guide. He’s the voice that’s behind us saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” He tells us what to do, say, or think and when. How to keep pure and holy in the wicked world around us.

The second thing was my brights. You say, “I can see fine without them.” Oh, but my friend, what if the way isn’t marked very good? What if there is no lighting along the road? What if deer and other animals stand unseen in the ditches ready to run out in front of you? In my case, that night, the what-ifs were a reality. And folks, in our case today, the what-ifs are a reality.

Many think it’s not important to live more carefully, to take on more convictions and practice more safeguards. Brights aren’t technically needed. Nevertheless, it might be the difference in you arriving home safely or not. To grab a hold of as much light as possible.

Sometimes as you drive down life’s road, others from the oncoming traffic will flash their lights at you signaling you to turn off your brights. Your standards, convictions, and careful living offend them. Oh, but my friend, how am I going to see the deer before it’s too late? How am I going to recognize the traps of the enemy before I have a head-on collision wrecking my spiritual life?

Lastly, I had a desire to get home more than anything else. I didn’t care if I had to sing at the top of my lungs. I didn’t care if I had to blast the AC on my face even though it was in the 30s outside. I didn’t care if I had to chug energy drinks—of which I don’t tremendously care for their taste. I wanted to get home more than I cared about my comfort. I wanted to get home more than I cared about what oncoming traffic thought. I wanted to get home more than I wanted to pull over to the side with my hazards on and sleep.

More than anything, my friends, we have to make it. The night is dark, and the hour is late, but He’s promised that if we want to go home, He will make a way.

What out there is so great, my child

That you continue to wander

What out there has you charmed so

That you roam a wee bit longer

Isn’t the night too dark and the wind too cold

Haven’t your feet grown weary, your hunger bold

What has death and Satan to offer

Friend, that outweighs home

Would you rather fame and glory

Than to have peace and know you’re right

Would you rather dirty, sinful pleasures

Than to feel clean when you lay down at night

Would you rather fear and torment

Plague you for now and eternity, son

What has death and Satan to offer

Friend, that outweighs home

(October 5, 2022)