Dial 911

Fred Bowers reminded me of God.

Some time ago I read about Fred who worked the night shift in the Deck Park Tunnel, a half-mile section of Interstate 10 between Third Street and Third Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona. It took  more than 5 years and 700 million dollars to build and a good deal of that went into the subterranean control booth where Fred took up his lonely vigil. From this booth he could...

...monitor traffic flow using 20 closed-circuit cameras and a bank of plasma screen monitors that gave him a constant view of the whole tunnel.

...alert motorists of accidents or traffic jams by tapping out warnings which appeared on message boards throughout the tunnel roadway.

...determine if smoke or carbon monoxide was being released in harmful levels, and literally blow it away by starting up several 750 horsepower fans to create 70 miles per hour winds.

...do everything, in fact, but contact the stranded motorists who could have talked to him just by picking up one of the emergency phones that were located at regular intervals (every 150 ft.). For that conversation to take place, they had to call him.

Yes, Fred reminded me of God. Think about it. God did not simply create State Route Straight and Narrow and then retire to His office to get away from the traffic jams of humanity. Instead, He wired Himself into His creation and the lives of His creatures. From the throne room of Heaven, He can...

...watch every soul on Earth as we pursue our seperate paths (Prov. 5:21; Prov. 15:3).

...use His Book, the Bible, to warn us of danger or trouble ahead so that we can avoid fatal collisions with sin (Psalm 119:9, 11, 105).

....send the mighty blast of the Holy Spirit to blow away the noxious fumes of sin (Gal. 5:16, 25).

...do everything but initiate the call for help. Actually, He can do that one too, if He so chooses, but He gives us the honor and responsibilty of making a choice.

Fred Bowers often fumed in frustration as a hapless motorist stumbled by phone after phone, too proud to make the call or not knowing what the phone was for. Just think, my friend, how often God must weep with compassion as stranded sinners stagger from heartbreak to heartbreak, leaving the phone of prayer useless on the hook of grace. God sees your need, and He has infinite power to meet it...but He waits for you to call (Psalm 120:1; Jer. 33:3; James 4:2).

Dial 911,
Pastor David Blevins