Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.

• Deuteronomy 2:1-5

And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants.

• Ezra 7:7

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

• Ezra 8:21-23

As for the Scriptures, doing what God tells you is important.  Trusting God is important.  And praying while packing is important.

But in route planning, I violated two of my rules when I went to visit my son in Tennessee.  It caused trouble on the return trip to Pennsylvania but caused me to make a two-day trip in one day.  So, my mistakes led to me saving some money.

To preface these mistakes, I had no hotel reservations.  I had just gotten over COVID and my stamina was not up to par.  I was afraid that I would have to stop early.

Rule #1

Always plan the trip so that the large cities will be driven through in non-peak driving hours.  In other words, avoid rush hour and lunch.

I left the Memphis area at 9:00am, and I drove through Nashville, TN during their lunch hour.  I then drove through Louisville, KY during rush hour with people going home.  Sometimes, I had no traffic to slow me down, but at other times, the traffic moved at a snail’s pace.

It was heavy traffic at times.  A couple of times I had to slam on the brakes as someone did something stupid in front of me, and suddenly we were crawling along slowly.

But God was with me.  There were no close calls, no accidents.  And to be honest, the traffic slowed a little, but not much or in other cases, not for long.

So, I was arriving in Cincinnati before the sun went down.  And I was not tired at all, but I worried that I would soon be tired.  There was no reservations at the hotel, and the clerk gave me a dirty look when I asked if she could find a vacancy traveling northeast.  Before the days of the information age, clerks would do that for you.  She was not helpful.  She did not even try.

When I got back on the highway, the traffic suddenly stopped moving.  This was too late to be rush hour.  That is when I realized that I had violated another of my rules.

Rule #2

Always check the route for major events, like sporting events or pop singer concerts.

While parked on the interstate highway, I had plenty of time to do a search for events in Cincinnati.  It was a Thursday night, and the NFL has one Thursday night game.  There are thirty-two teams in the NFL.  The odds were slim, but not only was the game in Cincinnati, it was the Pittsburgh Steelers who were coming into town.  Pittsburgh, the “home team” for my area, travels well.  A lot of fans crowd into the away stadiums.  So, there would not be any vacancies.  No wonder the clerk gave me a dirty look and did not try to help.

It is a five hour drive from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh and by the time I got far enough away from Cincinnati to find a vacancy, I was nearly home.  God kept me alert and aware.  I made it all the way in one day.  I slept in my own bed that night.

But, I realized that my safe trip home was one hundred percent due to God being my strength and shield.  I had messed up on two route planning rules.

I was exhausted, but I arrived home before midnight, and I had lost an hour due to changing time zones.  I had hardly stopped along the way, so I had made it home in nearly the least amount of time possible.

I had good rules, but I did not follow them.  Yet, I had done a lot of praying, and God led the way.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.