Right Time/Wrong Place

I was on my way to speak at a church ladies’ Christmas party in Warsaw,

Indiana. Before the days of GPS they gave me specific directions: as you come into

town, you’ll see the sign for the fairgrounds and we are in the main white rectangular

building, 7:00 pm. Just after entering the city limits, sure enough, there was the sign

pointing the direction to the fairgrounds. As I drove into the fairgrounds, I was surprised

that no cars were in the parking lot. I was a bit early but thought surely there would be a

few people there getting things ready. After seeing the door was locked, I panicked! Is

this the right day? Time? What in the world is wrong? I called the pastor’s wife and she

assured me that she and several ladies were there. I was totally bewildered! I described

the setting which she said sounded right. I then told her I would drive back to the main

street and describe to her what I was seeing. I named streets and places, but she

couldn’t recognize where I was. Then I noticed the hospital. She asked me to describe

what I was looking at. I described the steps, doors, etc. and then saw the sign, Wabash

Hospital. She immediately said, “WABASH?!?” That is when she told me she was in

WARSAW. Ahhh! I was in the wrong town. Wabash is the town you go through on your

way to Warsaw. My brain had misfired, thinking I was at my destination, when I was

actually still on the way. Because I was early, I was able to get back on the route to

WARSAW and made it in time to speak. We all had quite the laugh about my big

mistake of thinking I had followed directions but was in the wrong place. Since then, I’ve

thought of many times when I thought I was right where I was supposed to be, only to

find that God meant for me to be in a different place. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your

ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths.” It is so easy in certain situations to

lean on our own understanding, believing we are right, only to realize we aren’t. In these

times, we can go to God for help, and He will direct our paths.