A Prayer on the Highway

by Rick Blumenberg / @rickblumenberg

It was late on a Sunday evening in the early seventies and we were traveling home after a week at Anderson (Indiana) Campmeeting.  Carol was driving, with Kathy and Twyla, our two young daughters sound asleep in the back seat as we drove through the darkness toward home. It was a dark and stormy night, (sorry about that Snoopy) with wind whipping the car and rain pelting down. The highway had recently been resurfaced and was not yet painted with warning stripes so it was difficult for Carol to see.

I offered to drive but she said no, it was alright, so I leaned back against the seat and the window on the passenger side of the car and as we drove through the darkness I felt more than a little apprehension, so I began to pray. I asked God to be with us as we traveled, to watch over us and keep us safe from harm. Next I prayed for the other motorists on the highway, those we met, with bright lights that almost blinded us and those who followed behind. I prayed he would keep them alert and careful in their driving and bring all of us safely to our homes.

As I prayed, I sensed God's Presence there in the car with us and with it came a genuine sense of assurance. I allowed my mind to expand from the highway on which we were traveling to other highways and other places and ask God to watch over them all. Then I pictured God in my mind as a loving Heavenly Father who was looking down on our world from heaven. As I prayed I asked him to encircle our entire globe with Divine love and blessing. I prayed for the troubled areas where people were fighting and asked for peace. I prayed for famine stricken regions, that food would be provided until the rains would come and the crops could grow again and that there be bountiful harvests.

I prayed that God's love might be experienced by every earthly creature and that God's kingdom might indeed come and that God's will might be fully and joyfully done throughout our earth just as it is done in heaven.

Somehow I knew that my prayer was, at least partially, being answered. I felt a sense of awe that the Creator of the heavens and the earth was not only willing, but eager, to work through my prayers and the prayers of a multitude of others, to accomplish his good will throughout all the earth. What a privilege to pray and thus work together with God.

I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.
 

Grandma’s Prayer of Relinquishment

By Rick Blumenberg / @rickblumenberg 

A book that touched me deeply many years ago was Beyond Ourselves, by Catherine Marshall.  (Fleming H. Revell Co, 1994.) Especially helpful was chapter six, entitled “The Prayer of Relinquishment”. In it she told of a time in her life when she was ill and did not begin to get better until after she surrendered her health to God and agreed in her heart and mind to trust him for the outcome and not worry about the future. It was definitely a turning point in her life.

Perhaps, however, I came to understand the concept most fully many years later when talking with my paternal Grandmother as I worked on our family genealogy. She told me of a painful time in her life—the illness and death of her youngest son as a small child. It illustrated to me that the prayer of relinquishment had been around long before I had heard about it.

Fifty years later my Grandmother could still vividly recall that difficult experience. She said,

"I did everything I could to help and prayed for the Lord to heal him, but when he kept getting worse, I just gave him to the Lord and said that whether he lived or died, I wanted God’s Will to be done.  One of my neighbors asked me how I could do such a thing, but I knew God always does what is best."

Clarence died of pneumonia in March of 1938, about four months before his third birthday. I don’t know why Clarence died and I don’t know why God didn’t do anything to prevent his death. But I do know Grandma was right, God can be trusted, whatever happens.

We don’t, however, want to make the mistake of thinking that every time we surrender fully to God something bad will happen. Usually the result is good, whether we see it immediately or later after the perspectives of time and later life events give a better understanding. Most of the time surrender is necessary so God can remove something from our lives that otherwise precludes something better. Surrender to God often brings our greatest freedom and joy whether or not it brings what we think is best for us (or what we desire) at the time.

To be in a loving and intimate relationship with Almighty God is a blessing beyond description. He cares about your situation and wants to help you to experience life that is full, abundant and filled with his blessing. I hope you have that kind of relationship with God and if you don’t, I hope you soon come to know him. Here is a prayer that may be helpful to you:

God, help me to always trust you so completely that no matter what difficulties I face in life, I can know it is safe to surrender them completely to you. I know that whatever you want to do is always what is best for your kingdom and I know it is also what is always best for me.
  
I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.