Devotionals

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A while ago, my 8-year-old son Joseph and I were driving down a country road, heading for home after a trip to the store. The roadway was quiet under the canopy of leafy green boughs. Then I noticed that something was in the road ahead. I slowed up and, as we got closer, I saw it was a turtle. It was sitting rather still – I wasn’t sure if it was waiting to decide on a direction or had waited too long. I carefully drove past the turtle – not wanting to add to the state’s road kill numbers. Just then I hear the alarm go out.
“Mom, you’ve got to stop”
“Why, Joseph?”
“That turtle’s in trouble. We need to help it.”
“Honey, I don’t even know if it’s still alive.”
“But, MOM….”
“Ok. Ok”
So I’m a sucker for a pitiful face and a noble cause. I slowly backed up and checked to make sure no other cars were coming. I hopped out of the van and went up to the little creature. I tapped gently on its shell as if to inquire if anyone was home. The turtle responded by pulling in its head. Ok, it was alive – now what? I looked around and saw a puddle of water at the edge of the woods. Turtles need water. Right? I guess – it’s been a while since I took seventh grade Science.
Not wanting to get chomped on the finger by that ominous looking beak it had, I gently picked him up by the sides of his shell.
All of a sudden, his feet where flying, trying to dig into the earth that was no longer under him. I quickly airlifted him off the road and onto the grassy shoulder near the puddle.
“Yeah!” cheered my son, who had been watching the rescue operation. I smiled and we both got into the van to continue our journey home.
Since that day, we have rescued other turtles from possible demise on the road. And it always amazes me how they venture onto a surface they know is man-made and how they always attempt to traverse it on their own. After all, I’ve never seen a pack of turtles cross the road together. Don’t they realize they are asking for trouble?
Then I realized that we humans do the same thing. God has given us a safe harbor – not unlike the protective woods with its soft grasses and watery puddles. Still, we get the notion that we know best. We venture into the man-made world, thinking we have all the answers and all the time putting ourselves in harm’s way. For some of us, there may problems with relationships or dependency on things like drugs, alcohol, or sex. Maybe we are insecure because we constantly compare ourselves with others.
But what we forget is that we have a loving God who watches us on this lonely path and taps us on our shell to remind us He is there and has a safe harbor for us. Sometimes we hide – we know we’ve done wrong and can’t imagine anyone wanting to help us. Other times we argue with God and squirm around making excuses for our actions. And then the Holy Father gently picks us up and puts us back on safe ground, where Living Water and safety await us. For God promised that all things happen for the good of those who love the Lord.
Maybe that turtle went back to his turtle friends and gave them the update: “hey guys, I was wandering out there on this really hard and scary place and this Big Guy came and took me to a place where I was safe. It was really cool!”
After all, isn’t that what we turtles should do – go tell the world that there is this really big God who loves us and wants to take care of us. All we need to do is let Him. And by the way, our God is really cool too!!

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