I had an experience a little over a
month ago that built my testimony about the power of listening to the
warnings of the spirit tremendously! I thought I'd share it with you!
It
was a Friday and my friend Elaina and I were planning on doing a 12
mile run the next morning. On my way into town with my family I all of a
sudden had a little panic attack that something bad was going to
happen. I didn't know what it was or what it was related to so I just
shrugged it off to my own crazy thoughts and put it out of my mind.
That night I didn't sleep well. I tossed and turned and only got about 6
hours of sleep when I had to wake up to get ready for our run. On our
way up the mountain to where we would start our run, I had an uneasy
feeling in my stomach. I thought it was just because I didn't sleep
well and that I thought I'd have a terrible run. I put it out of my
mind again. Well, our run was going great! I felt great and it was a
beautiful day! A little more than 1/2 mile or so away from the end of
our run, we were coming to an intersection where we would turn right and
onto a busy road for the last 1/2 mile stretch to my car. Just before
getting to that intersection I had the thought, "Cross the road and run
against traffic." Normally, my friend and I run in the direction with
traffic because the shoulder is much wider and we can run a few feet off
of the road. Running against traffic has a smaller shoulder so we
would be running right on the edge of the road. A second time the
thought came to my mind, "Cross the road and run against traffic." So
as we approached the intersection I was about to tell Elaina that we
should run against traffic but she had had the same impression. We
crossed the road. About a 1/4 mile down we heard a very loud noise
coming up from behind us. We stopped running, turned around and saw
that a truck pulling a trailer that was filled with garbage and debris
was coming towards us very quickly. The trailer had come off of the
truck and was barreling down the road behind it. The tongue of the
trailer was causing sparks and such as it went down the road until it
finally turned right, into the dirt of the shoulder, and after several
yards finally came to a stop about 10 feet off the shoulder of the
road. The trailer and truck had stopped right across the road from
where we stood. Had we been running on that side of the road, like we
normally do, there is no doubt in our minds that we would have been run
over by that trailer and seriously injured, or worse. We would not have
had enough time to get out of the way of that trailer.
This
experience has taught me to listen and recognize more carefully the
promptings and warnings of the Spirit. Sometimes it might be a panic
attack! Sometimes it might be a bad feeling or even a thought put in
our minds. I'm glad I finally listened that 4th and final time! I'm
sorry it took that many times to get through but I'm SO glad the Lord
didn't give up on me! I'm grateful that the Lord has given us the Holy
Ghost to guide us and to protect us through our lives. I know He
lives! I know He knows us individually and knows our needs and that we
need to tell Him of our needs! He may know them but he wants to hear it
from us! I love the Lord SO much!
