Friday’s Column: Brent’s Biblical Bytes

Brent Pollard

Thursday, October 29, 2020, proved to be a day gone awry for me. I was supposed to have a follow-up appointment with one of the many specialists my health problems require. The day started with a bang. That banging was the screen door repeatedly smashing the side of the house, driven by the wind in Tropical Storm Zeta. The power was out, but our backup generator was on, providing electricity. No problem, correct? No, our community well does not have a backup generator.  So, though I had electricity, I had no water. What was going to make me presentable to the public? Baby wipes to the rescue.  

The thought had occurred to me that if I were having a hard time because of the weather that the doctor’s office might as well. I called. No answer. Perhaps, I should stay at home? No. One incurs a fee for missing an appointment without prior 24-hour notification of a missed visit. So, there was no turning back from this point. I checked Georgia 511 to ensure the roads I was traveling was clear. My route checked out. There were reports of debris on secondary roadways in the areas I would travel, but none affected my trip. Everything looked great. 

In Union County, the highway was passable. The Notley River overflowed its banks, flooding the surrounding lowlands, but the road was in no danger because it is above the water-engorged river. In Lumpkin County, just beyond the Appalachian Trail crossing at Neel Gap, I noticed that the leaf and pine needle debris increased. The winds must have been worse further south.  I began seeing evidence of trees that had been cleared from the roadway in the hours before I arrived. In White County, the power was out, rendering stoplights inoperable. I discovered that most of the drivers I encountered did not know that you treat a useless traffic light as a 4-way stop. In Hall County, I drove over two or three dead, downed powerlines. A flagman stopped me briefly before directing me around a large tree, still covering half of Clarks Bridge Road.  

But I arrived at the doctor’s office safely. I was even early for my appointment. I couldn’t help but notice the parking lot was empty when I arrived, however. Yes. The office was closed because of the power outage. Had anyone thought to contact those having to drive “over the mountain” from over 50 miles away? Of course, they had not. I heard a sigh slip out.  

There is a large Dollar Tree in Cleveland, Georgia. So, I called my parents to let them know I arrived safely but would be returning home sooner than they expected. The Dollar Tree excursion went well. I returned to Walmart in Blairsville, Georgia, since dad had some medicine I needed to pick up. Before doing so, I stopped to take a picture of the raging Trahlyta waterfall at Vogel State Park 11 miles outside of Blairsville. It was beautiful, even if it looked like the observation deck might be washed away. Once at Walmart, I found the pharmacy was closed. The “system” had “gone down.” Despite saying they hoped they would have it back up in thirty minutes, they did not. I went home, minus dad’s medicine.  I fixed a cup of coffee and sat down to write my article. I spilled some of it on my desk. Fortunately, I did not get the keyboard wet. However, my workspace now smells like coffee. (But that is a good thing.)  

Do you want to know something interesting? I wanted to throw my hands up in exasperation at several points during the day but refused to do so. I pulled out four tricks to help me cope with a day gone awry. And here they are. 

1. RELAX. As Cain discovered, when we become agitated, sin crouches at the door desiring mastery over us (Genesis 4.7). I could be upset that my doctor’s office was discourteous to me, but that was no excuse for sinning (Ephesians 4.26). Hence, I needed to “be still” so I could acknowledge God (Psalm 46.10).

2. REJOICE. That day was a day made by my Lord. So, I needed to rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118.24). I had a say over how I would feel about things. It was a beautiful day, despite its raucous start. I was happy to be alive. Despite sounding trite, I knew others that day faced actual challenges, potentially imperiling their life. The pointless trip only inconvenienced me.  
   
    
3. REFOCUS. After telling us how to find indescribable peace through prayer, Paul tells us to meditate (think) about “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable,” and anything excellent or worthy of praise (Philippians 4.8). Now that I calmed down, I needed to think about what I would do to salvage the rest of the day, filling it with superlatives!
   
    
4. REPURPOSE. So, I was not seeing the doctor. Even so, I needed to find something productive to ensure that I could make the most of my time (Ephesians 5.16). I immediately scrapped my previous idea for my Biblical Byte to a lesson on coping with days gone awry. I meditated upon it during my trip and read through the Scriptures after returning home. And this is the result.

It may be that one needs to throw in a fifth “R” also. Repent. If you allow a bad day to make profanities escape your lips or harbor hatred in your heart, you need to make that right with God and any other parties that may be present pronto. In that way, you can turn the day around and make it something good. I trust, though, that with practice, you can better deal with your days gone awry too. Let us strive to do all to God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10.31).