Hi Faith Family,
Don't Overdrive Your Light
Whew! Good to get back into the swing of things. Getting into the Fall schedule, kids are back in school, all classes are revving up. It’s time to hit the ground running.
Yesterday’s schedule was jammed. I finished up my morning appointments, got set for my afternoon appointments and I was out the door to pick up a member to get to the doctor’s office. Perfect timing. The ole’ Civic fired up like a champ, opened up the windows to let in the fresh, Boise air and slid it into first gear. Then the odd noise of too much rubber on crushed rock. “No way!” was my first comment, spoken to no one in particular. I got out, walked around the rear of the car, and yup, you guessed it: A massive chunk of metal was sticking out of the side of my now flattened all-purpose radial. My comment on seeing the rubber pancake where my tire used to be? “You have GOT to be kidding me!”
Well, I felt like I was on a NASCAR pit crew the way I had that tire switched out in 9 minutes flat. Not even late to my member’s appointment. But yesterday’s experience reminded me how we so easily take these daily trips for granted.
We all do, don’t we? We get turn the key and expect the car to start every time. We begin a trip to the store, never considering the possibility that we might not get there on our schedule, or even arrive. While James speaks to such faulty, worldly thinking:
13 Now listen, you who say,
"Today or tomorrow we will
go to this or that city, spend a year
there, carry on business and make
money."
14 Why, you do not even know
what will happen tomorrow. What is
your life? You are a mist that
appears for a little while and then
vanishes.
15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it
is the Lord’s will, we will live and do
this or that."
16 As it is, you boast and brag. All
such boasting is evil. (chapter 4)
This tire tread of arrogance is an example of how easily we can become influenced and even run off the road by the unbelieving world in which we live. As Paul told the Galatian Christians, “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” (5:7) It is evidence of the sin in which we were born. The barbs of which we will suffer tears until the “wheel [is] broken at the well” (Ecclesiastes 12:6). Punishment was in our future because of the sin we had from the pole position of our race of life—indeed, the same is true for the entire human race.
Yet Jesus, our Great Substitute, ran the race from beginning to end without a trace of arrogance or any sin. Jesus ran the race of life without a single wrong turn or accident. The punishment you and I deserved crashed upon Jesus, freeing us from guilt and making us right with God. Jesus has done this for you because he loves you and will be with you as your race continues on smooth road as well as rough. And as we continue on, we display who is in the driver’s seat of our lives.
In our words, at least in our attitudes, let such arrogance not be detected. Isn’t it better to express our trust in God as we begin each task, start each trip, set off on each adventure. Such an attitude hinging on the “God-willing” qualification dedicates all our plans to the God who holds our future in our hands. Such an attitude becomes the oil that prevents thermal breakdown in the moving engine parts of our lives that don’t always go according to (our) plan. Such an attitude will never leave you . . . flat.
God’s blessings as you dedicate your day, your plans, and your decisions to the Lord who loves you beyond measure.
Prayer idea: Pray about the short-term and long-term plans you have. Conclude your prayers "if it is your will, O Lord."
***Please also pray for Jason O'Neil. His mother just called me. Although I don't personally know the family, she is calling Christian churches asking for prayers for their 19-year-old son who is suffering with stage four Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma, a form of cancer. He is in Seattle today, will be back in Boise soon. Please pray for him and his family, placing all in the caring and powerful hands of the Lord.***