Green Lights from God
by Alexandra Copeland
Miss Johnnie Mae was my family’s
next door neighbor when I was growing up. I don’t think
there’s a soul in the world that is quite like her. She was
always generous and kind, but still struck me as kind of an
enigma in those days. Miss Johnnie Mae was what they called
in my small town,
‘Full of the Holy Ghost’. I didn’t know much about this
label back then, only that it must have been strictly for
Christians that were different than myself and those in my
church community. I was often inquisitive about the
differences, but I dared not ask my grandmother, who I knew
to be wise on such matters. She would think a question like
that to be impertinent for a child of my young age, so I
made it my business to study this uniquely spiritual woman,
Miss Johnnie Mae, and to discover her secrets on my own.
She was so brave to me to strike
a different chord in the symphony of sameness that included
most of the people I knew. Why wasn’t it enough for her? Why
did she choose to attach herself to this small group of
believers? They were isolated and often ostracized for being
so expressive in their worship and praise; even thought by
some to be ignorant and opposing to the doctrine of true
Christianity. I was intrigued, and the more I studied Miss
Johnnie Mae, the more intrigued I became.
She spoke in tongues often and
for long periods of time. She talked about Heavenly Father
more than anyone I had ever known; and with every decision,
even the mundane ones, she consulted the Lord Jesus. Not
having ever heard tongues before, you would think that this
would have been the most fascinating thing to me, but
instead I was more interested in her commitment to seek
God’s attention on what seemed to me to be almost every
decision she made. I found it so odd, frustrating even, that
she would consult the Great Big Creator of the entire
universe with such trivial details. He had so much to do, I
thought, and surely did not want to be bothered with how
much she should spend on a new dress, or whether she would
let her daughter go with us on a school trip to the zoo.
Sometimes, I withheld my fondness
for her and resented the discipline she not only kept for
herself, but for her children as well. Her light though…that
glorious light continued to draw me in. I don’t think either
of us knew it, at least I certainly didn’t at the time, but
she was modeling for me an example of the Christian walk
that I would later cling to with all my heart.
As I pursued my own independence
and started to carve out my way as an adult, my journey was
fraught with mistakes and missteps; so much so that I longed
for the days when I didn’t have to make such tough decisions
and choices. Time and time again, I failed miserably, and
found myself in the corner licking my wounds and sometimes
crying for days. In church mostly all of my life, with lots
of loving people to pray for and support me, I believed that
I had adequately been equipped for the travails of life
ahead. I, like so many young folk, thought I knew it all. Oh
how wrong I was.
A fear was birthed within me.
Wrong choices were like piercing darts, and disappointments
stung with amazingly painful venom. I began to shun new
adventures and recoiled from opportunities that lacked
guarantees I could count on. I became a young woman that was
so very afraid of just about everything. The enemy was hot
on my trail, and no chance that might land me yet another
screw up was worth taking.
This is not the kind of life that Jesus Christ made
available to us, and it was truly miserable.
Something was very wrong, and I
felt it with every fiber of my being. I was not living the
life I was destined to live. Somehow, I had gotten separated
from that life, and integration was the only option for me.
I began to pray a new prayer. I asked God for answers, and
unlike times before, I knew that He would speak to me in a
way that was undeniable. The Spirit brought to my
remembrance the commitment and discipline of my dear friend,
Miss Johnnie Mae. We were over a thousand miles apart by
then, and I had not seen her lovely face or heard her sweet
voice in many years, but her mark was indelible.
“Seek Me in all things” I heard the
Father say. And there it was, the symbol of obedience that
was branded in my consciousness that very moment. Miss
Johnnie Mae’s example of commitment and discipline had come
full circle. A very clear line was drawn for me between
those things that keep us on the path to purpose and those
that cause us to veer away from it. I understood that
sometimes it is the seemingly small thing that makes the
difference, and that bringing everything before Heavenly
Father is good practice for the Spirit. It teaches us to
hear His voice, to know His Will, and to see the
magnificence of the indwelling Holy Spirit as he guides us
in our everyday lives.
Miss Johnnie Mae had it so
unbelievably right. Nothing is too mundane to bring before
Him. She was delighting in Heavenly Father with such
humility, and He was rewarding her with the pleasure of His
company and the overwhelming comfort of hearing from Him on
even the small stuff. She seeks Him as a child does a
parent, and this is required. Jesus tells us Matthew
18:4(NLT), “So anyone
who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest
in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
It is so easy to move in the
wrong direction, and to make decisions or choices that cause
us to be harmed or severely hampered in life. My dear
friend, Miss Johnnie Mae, understood this. She had the good
sense to ask Heavenly Father for those green lights that
signal His approval. They point us in the right direction
and help to keep our feet from falling into traps. How
wonderful it is to know that each of us can ask Heavenly
Father for a green light that will direct us when to move
and how. He waits for these invitations every day, and all
we have to do is humble ourselves and ask. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT)
are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights
reserved.
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