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Beck: Finding peace at an Alabama gas pump
Taylor Beck
Taylor Beck

Minutes after I became “homeless,” my mind started racing.

My wife and I finalized the sale of our house in Boaz, Ala., on Monday. It was exciting because it meant we were one step closer to officially making Covington our new home. But it was scary, too, because we still don’t have a place to call home. 

After the closing, as I rumbled along the streets of Marshall County, I couldn’t help but feel distressed. The weight of the unknown was beginning to feel unbearable.

“I mean, now what?” I asked myself. “How are we going to get by for the next few months? Can we get by for the next few months? Will an apartment ever open up in Covington? Because it doesn’t look like a rental house will, and I can’t live in a hotel forever. Well, maybe I could for a minute, but — no.”

As similar questions continued to overtake my conscience, I was forced to stop at a traffic signal. In anguish, I pulled my glasses from my eyes to thoroughly rub my temples. Nothing else could ease my mind. Then, as I slid them back onto the bridge of my nose, the message on a gas station sign caught my attention: “GOD HAS THIS YALL.”

Suddenly, I was overcome by a wave of peace. I couldn’t help but smile — I nearly laughed.

I mean, who knew four words could hold so much meaning? And for only $1.79 per gallon?

I don’t know who owns the Conoco on Alabama Highway 205 in Albertville. I don’t know who is in charge of updating its sign or coming up with the message it portrays. But, as silly as it may sound, I think those four little words were a message from God and exactly what I needed to see. 

In fact, it’s a message we all need to see right now.

Forget about what I consider problematic in my own life; take a look around. Though it is slowly recovering, the world continues to suffer from a pandemic that has killed thousands and harshly impacted the lives of millions. And as quickly as COVID-19 spread in a way this generation had never seen, so, too, did a sickening strain of distress and despair.

But there is a cure.

You see, no matter the circumstance, the truth is, God remains in control. 

He is the miracle worker, He is the calm in the storm. He’s the way maker — the light in the darkness, as one song says. 

We’re living in a time of great uncertainty, but we’re going to make it. 

As the sign says, God’s got this. Don’t ever forget it.

Taylor Beck is the editor and publisher of The Covington News. He may be reached at tbeck@covnews.com.