Are you afraid of the dark? I have a friend who is terrified of it. She can be sound asleep, but if the power goes out, it wakes her up. As for me, I am cautious of the dark. While I am not afraid of the darkness itself, I worry what might happen because of the darkness.
A good example of this happened when my daughter Sara was in college. She attended the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. Being so close, she would come home on the weekends. On Sunday evenings, we would drive back with her. On this one evening, Tim had to work, so my mom rode with me. On the way back home, I always got off on the Clinton exit and took Norris Freeway. To me it was a better drive. On this one trip, it was dark by the time we were driving on the Freeway. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, so I had my lights on bright. When we came upon another car, I dimmed my lights. After it passed, I flipped the dimmer switch again. That’s when my headlights went completely out!
I couldn’t believe it. This had never before happened to me. When I flipped the lights again, the lights flashed on for a second and then they went back out. I knew I needed to get safely off the road as soon as possible. Thanks to the moon, there was just enough light so that I could see enough to drive to where Brushy Valley Road comes it into Norris Freeway in Anderson County. I pulled into an area that used to be a small parking lot
My first thought was to turn the car off and start it again. But if it was having electrical issues, would it start back up? Next, I tuned the lights completely off and turned them back on a few times. Nothing. Then I moved the dimmer switch around a few times. I realized the headlights lights would only stay on if I physically held the switch in the bright position. As soon as I released it, the lights went back out.
Mom wanted to call her husband to come and get us. It was a good fifteen-minute drive from that point to her house. The thought of us sitting in the dark next to Norris Freeway while we waited made me very uneasy. Who knew what kind of person would be driving down the Freeway. They could be a Believer or somebody who had no problem taking advantage of our situation. Besides, a lot can happen in fifteen minutes, so there was only one thing to do.
“No, Mom. We’re not going to sit here by ourselves. I’m driving home while holding the lights on bright. You better pray.” With that, I pulled back onto Norris Freeway.
“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” Psalm 118:8 (KJV)
Obviously, I don’t have a lot of faith in mankind, but I do in the Lord. I felt as though He was telling me to leave and get out of the situation, so I did. Man can be misleading, but the Lord never is. All you have to do is listen to and trust in Him.
Let me tell you, that drive to my mom’s house was the longest fifteen minutes of my life. If felt as if we would never get there. Plus, I don’t know how many people I made mad on Norris Freeway because I was driving with my lights on bright.
When we got back to mom’s house, her husband got into my car and immediately turned it off. “But what if it doesn’t start?” I asked. He simply replied, “Oh it will start. It just needs to be reset.” Sure enough, the lights came back on as normal. If only I had done that earlier, but then again, I wouldn’t have had as much of an adventure and a story to tell.