Each year, in the dead of winter, when everything is still dry and brown, and when the National Weather Service issues a winter storm warning, Ken and I relish the dream of spring. There are harbingers everywhere and, let me tell you, we look for them. A harbinger is a forerunner of something. It paves the way. The first harbinger of the year is February, the shortest month of the year. We only have to endure 28 days of winter in February.

And this past Sunday, as I wrote, we awaited a harbinger, one that is exciting for us. NASCAR began its season with a bang, the Daytona 500. Drivers look upon this race as the plum they all want to achieve. It’s so historic and the air is electric with excitement. This year’s event included an appearance by the President, and, as always, there was a military flyover. This is one sports event that is always blessed by a local clergy member before the national anthem is sung.

One of the things I really enjoy about racing is that the drivers bring their families along. You’ll see drivers, who will soon race at two hundred miles an hour, chatting anxiously with their spouses, carrying babies, and holding the hands of youngsters, armed with their ear protection, as they wait for the race to begin. Obviously, these families live a lifestyle much different from most of us and we can’t really know them, but that little pre-race snapshot offers a glimpse of who they are and I truly love being witness to all the joy those kids feel being there with Daddy.

After all the opening fanfare, the invocation, the national anthem, the Thunderbirds fly-over, and the appearance of the president, the drivers were ready to race. The pace car pulled away, the cars sped up and watched for the white flag to drop. The race was on. And after eleven of the two hundred laps were run, rain began to pour from the sky. The race went into delay, knowing that it was going to last for hours. The storm was not unexpected. Officials had moved the starting time up and they had hoped to get a legal race in before the track got wet. It was not to be, so they spent the afternoon interviewing drivers and discussing races past, just to kill time until the rain stopped falling and the drying procedures could begin. Wow! Talk about a change of plans!

We all experience changes, roadblocks, and challenges. Most of ours don’t happen in front of a huge in-person and TV audience, but they can be just as daunting or even paralyzing if we try to handle them alone. The best news is that we don’t have to carry those burdens alone. We can plan the events in our lives down to the last detail, but if our plans are not completely aligned with God’s plan, he has his ways of letting us know.

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9

When God places a roadblock in our path, he does it for our good, and while we may not be able to see that in the heat of the moment when we know Him, we know that he does nothing to harm us but only seeks to bring good into our lives. When we find ourselves simmering at a traffic light while on the way to an important event, He may be saving our lives by preventing the crash that would have happened had we gotten through that light. When a longtime job abruptly ends, there may be a better one waiting just around the corner, and when a relationship lies in ruin, that may not have been the right partner for a lifetime commitment and patience will help to find the right one. Many times in our lives, God saves us from mistakes we may never know we were making because, at the time, our plans felt just right. The thing is….we don’t have the master plan. Only God does. So, when everything in life seems backward and upside down, when nothing seems to go right, talk to God about it. Trust in Him and you’ll find your best perspective.

I know you’re wondering about that race. After a four-hour rain delay, the forty one cars entered the track again, the temperature was some twenty degrees cooler, lights were coming on and all the track conditions had been altered by the onslaught of water. But the drivers and their crews made adjustments to their racing strategies and, amidst accident producing cautions, they finished the race set before them. Isn’t that what we’re all expected to do?

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great crowd of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1 NIV