Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - What to Do When You're Hydroplaning - #6303

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

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My wife says I usually try to cram in one more thing before I leave for an appointment. I guess she's right. Then she says that I usually try to make it up on the road, and I have to plead guilty to that sometimes. And it usually works okay if the weather's on my side. And then there are those very rainy days when it's a little tougher to hurry. You know, you're zipping down the highway at top speed, and suddenly you feel yourself losing control of the rear wheels. You ever had that happen to you? Well, that's what they call hydroplaning. The water builds up under those tires so that well, you're suddenly skiing. You're skimming along on water rather than on the pavement and the rear of your car starts to go somewhere you don't want to go. Now, if that's ever happened to you, you know it is a scary feeling to start hydroplaning because, well, you're going so fast and you're starting to start losing control.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What to Do When You're Hydroplaning."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 42 . As we read this, David is hydroplaning. Well, he didn't have a car, he had a chariot. And I don't know if chariots hydroplane or not, but things were moving so fast for him, he was beginning to lose control. In fact, listen to some of the descriptions he gives. He says, "My tears have been my food day and night." Then as you read on later in this very personal Psalm, he uses words like this: "Why are you so downcast oh my soul? Why are you disturbed within me?" He says, "My soul is downcast within me." He says, "All Your waves and breakers, Lord, have swept over me." This guy's in bad shape!

He says, "Man, things are just totally out of control." I was there the other day, feeling this way. I think it was accumulated over a period of several weeks. My challenges had just been getting much bigger than my resources, personally. I felt like my faith was kind of like a fitted sheet on a king sized bed and I couldn't quite get it over that fourth corner. I couldn't get it to reach far enough to cover the particular challenges and the pressures that were accumulating. And I'll be honest with you, I was overwhelmed, I was pretty anxious, I was feeling like I would never catch up. And then I wandered into Psalm 42 , where I was hit with a very probing question by a man who was feeling things out-of-control like I was. And as it turned out, that question turned out to be the answer.

Here's our word for today from the Word of God. The question is in Psalm 42 , verse 2. It says this: "When can I go and meet with God." David says, "I'm losing control. It's bigger than I am. When can I go and meet with God?" You know, like David, I needed to stop the world and get away for 24 hours with my Bible and a notepad and meet with God. And I did.

Maybe that's the prescription for you right now. You say, "Well, there's too much for me to stop right now." See, that's why you need to. Set a time to stop. Stand back, and listen to your Lord for an extended, unhurried chunk of time - for hours, not just minutes. Write down what you're feeling and thinking as you're in His presence for that extended time. And ask Him for a fresh look at the people and the pressures so you can see the forest, not just the trees. Set some priorities while you're in that away spot. Make plans. Weed out things that can go. You can trust what you get from God when you're in an extended time with Him. And those need to be scheduled on a pretty regular basis.

So, if you're traveling at high speed, you feel yourself losing control, slow down, carve out time away where your Lord can show you what He wants.

The number one question you have to answer right now is this: "When can I go and meet with God?"