Most of us can think of at least one time they were lost. For me, the event that comes to mind happened when I was 25. I freelanced as a translator for a publisher and I loved my job. One of the perks was that I was able to work at home or just anywhere I felt like. It was a beautiful early fall and I wanted to take my work outside to enjoy the nature and soak up the sunshine. So when a friend’s lake cabin became available, my friend Monique and I packed up our projects and set up camp at this beautiful location. After a couple of weeks of fun and work I finished my translation. Since I needed to submit it for an edit, I took a bus to the city planning to return the same evening with food supplies for another week.
My plan would’ve worked perfectly if it didn’t just happen to be a holiday of some kind, and the buses ran on a different schedule. To make it all the way to the resort I needed to make a connection at a stop outside the city. I was horrified when I realized that there wouldn’t be another bus till next morning. Naturally it was long before we all carried cell phones and there wasn’t a public phone anywhere in sight. Feeling like I didn’t have another option I decided to hitch a ride. The very first vehicle stopped for me and I hopped in. Immediately I had all the tiny little hairs stand up on my neck. There were two guys in the truck and they kept giving me looks that made me very uncomfortable. They kept insisting that I should keep going with them as it wasn’t safe for a girl to be alone in the middle of nowhere. Everything in me just kept screaming to get out. I acted like I knew exactly where we were and recognized the landmarks. The truth was I had no idea where I was when I got out of the truck.
It was a cloudy, pitch dark night and all I could see was a country road and thick forest on each side of it. No street lights, no houses, not even moon light. Just total darkness and eerie silence. For a little while a sense of dread and hopelessness descended on me. I didn’t know how I was going to find my way to the cabin without as much as a flashlight. The only thing I could do was pray. I started singing my favorite songs of praise to the Audience of One. Soon unexplainable peace warmed my heart. I didn’t feel unsafe anymore. I didn’t even feel lost for I told myself that God knew exactly where I was. If I wasn’t lost to Him, then I wasn’t lost at all.
Suddenly I felt someone’s presence and I stopped singing. Seconds later I saw a tall man approaching. In one hand he was holding a flashlight illuminating the ground, a leash in the other. Tied to the leash was a large dog. The man smiled and said: “You don’t belong here in the darkness. Can we walk you home?” For a reason I couldn’t explain I trusted this man as fully and completely as I didn’t trust the two men in the truck. People often call it a gut feeling. It was more than that. I was God’s peace.
Later when I was telling the story, I couldn’t remember what this man looked like, how we found our way through the woods to the cabin, or what the conversation was about. It was almost like the time it took to return to safety was cut out from my memory. One moment I was standing in front of the man with the dog, next I was walking up to the well-lit porch and saw relief on Monique’s face when she opened the door. We both wondered if I had just been in the presence of an angel. It’s very possible. I never saw this man or the dog again. But just as well it could’ve been a regular human being. One thing I am sure – whether an angel or a human, he was sent by God Himself to help me find the way.
That event impacted me greatly and I still sometimes think about it when I’m faced with fear and hardship. It reminds me that I’m never alone in the darkness. Even in the most adverse situation I can experience peace. It also taught me to always listen to the small still voice inside me. It’s so easy to miss or ignore when we don’t expect it. If you think that God is not in a habit of speaking to people any more, you’d be wrong. But you won’t likely hear Him shouting at you. His voice is more like a whisper, hard to hear unless you tune out the noise competing for your attention.
In life it may feel sometimes like you lost your way. But you’re never really alone. Just look up and sing for the Audience of One.