Slow Down
I'm not a speed demon on the highway, but I don't always abide by the speed limit either. A lot of times when I find myself in a hurry, a slow car gets in front of me and I have to sigh. "Yes, Lord. I need to learn patience. I'll slow down."
This was not one of those days. I left work five minutes early. I leisurely rode in the slow lane. It's a good thing I wasn't in a hurry because halfway home, I got stuck behind a very slow merging vehicle that didn't seem to know how to accelerate onto a highway. Too many cars passing us for me to move over for a good while. When I got to town, the usual rush hour traffic, but I also hit every red light. Only two more intersections to go and I got stopped again. This time, a tractor trailer turned across my lane and was blocked from completing it's turn. I sat still at the green light while the truck inched forward. "Okay, Lord. I'm not in a hurry so this can't be a lesson on patience. Why are you trying to slow me down?"
Finally, I got through. One more red light. Out of traffic and heading up the on-ramp to get onto the next highway. Brake lights. People standing around. A crunched car on the shoulder. Debris on the road. No emergency vehicles. Must have just happened.
Slowly I merge onto the highway. Only several hundred more feet and brake lights again. A tractor trailer is overturned on the side of the road. Police car.
When it hits me that had I been here five minutes earlier it could have been me in the accident, I start crying. Were I not driving I probably would have wept uncontrollably. God slowed me down. God protected me.
Now, I don't know for sure if I would have been in that accident, but I felt God's hand in my life. There are many times when doubt can take hold. So little evidence of God and so much hurt in the world. But these moments when God feels real...I cling so hard to them.
This was not one of those days. I left work five minutes early. I leisurely rode in the slow lane. It's a good thing I wasn't in a hurry because halfway home, I got stuck behind a very slow merging vehicle that didn't seem to know how to accelerate onto a highway. Too many cars passing us for me to move over for a good while. When I got to town, the usual rush hour traffic, but I also hit every red light. Only two more intersections to go and I got stopped again. This time, a tractor trailer turned across my lane and was blocked from completing it's turn. I sat still at the green light while the truck inched forward. "Okay, Lord. I'm not in a hurry so this can't be a lesson on patience. Why are you trying to slow me down?"
Finally, I got through. One more red light. Out of traffic and heading up the on-ramp to get onto the next highway. Brake lights. People standing around. A crunched car on the shoulder. Debris on the road. No emergency vehicles. Must have just happened.
Slowly I merge onto the highway. Only several hundred more feet and brake lights again. A tractor trailer is overturned on the side of the road. Police car.
When it hits me that had I been here five minutes earlier it could have been me in the accident, I start crying. Were I not driving I probably would have wept uncontrollably. God slowed me down. God protected me.
Now, I don't know for sure if I would have been in that accident, but I felt God's hand in my life. There are many times when doubt can take hold. So little evidence of God and so much hurt in the world. But these moments when God feels real...I cling so hard to them.
Comments
Post a Comment