Uncertainty

 

TDOT is widening the interstate in front of our church, and a month ago, a huge forty-foot utility pole was placed right in front of our building!  The work was done without any consultation, and no one was around to appeal to.  I thought it was a temporary pole until another company brought three underground conduits up to the base of the pole.  After considerable detective work, I set up a meeting with a man from the EPB.  Mr. Adam was a jewel.  If I agreed to cut down a decorative pear tree to make room for the pole, Mr. Adam agreed to move the pole twenty feet.  But the work had to be done immediately because the sub-contractor was scheduled to be finished in three days.  Yikes!  So, I went home and got my saw, pruning loppers, and ax.  First, I took off four limbs on the street-side to shift the tree’s center of gravity away from the street.  I didn’t want the tree to fall on passing cars.  I began to notch the tree toward the way that I wanted it to fall but became anxious as the wind picked up.  The upper limbs were moving with the breeze, but on the ground, the wind was swirling around, and I couldn’t determine which way the wind was blowing.  But I noticed the flag in front of our church.  It was standing straight out … exactly in the right direction!  I cut on the back side of my notch and the tree fell exactly where I wanted it to.  Thank you, Lord, for flags!  Hey, sometimes in life, we get conflicting advice.  One friend says do this and your child will turn out right.  Another friend says, do this and your boss will be more agreeable.  But if we go to the Word of God and follow the dear Lord’s advice found in the pages of the Bible, things will turn out right.  Human advice may swirl around, but God’s advice, like the flag pointing straight out, is unchangeable.  God’s advice is dependable.  Yes, it is!