A ruined trip or a blessing in disguise?

I must admit parts of my trip were horrible.  Imagine sitting in a car for 34 hours straight.  What should have been a 24 hour drive stretched out to 34.  But no matter how miserable I was I have to look at this as a blessing in disguise.

We knew that this trip was going to be miserable right from the beginning.  The downpours started as soon as we backed out of the garage.  And it rained and it rained and it rained.  from San Antonio TX all the way to Montgomery AL.  Downpours mixed with moderate rain.  Most people did use a little sense and slow down so that put us firmly behind schedule by 5 hours.

While we sat in the car moaning and groaning making our way east we had no idea that it was really a blessing in disguise.  We finally made the turn north in Mobile AL  (another hour and a half east and we would have been back in my Florida hometown of Ft Walton Beach).  In Montgomery we picked up I-85 north.  Little did we know that being behind schedule could possible have saved our lives.

As we approached Atlanta we started hearing news reports of a major accident on the interstate.  The entire highway was closed.  5 more hours were added to our trip trying to make our way north while avoiding the interstate.  As we reflected on the situation we realized that had we been on schedule we very well could have been a part of the accident ourselves.

It took a minute to sink in but I am a firm believer in the fact that God does nothing without a reason.  While we were moaning and groaning, he was putting into place circumstances that kept us from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The next time you find things not working out as you planned, remember it could be a blessing in disguise.