Wednesday, April 16, 2014

License to Change

Sometimes I don’t have much patience for people who don’t know how to drive or who drive recklessly. When someone puts me and my family in jeopardy, I go a little berserk!

I was driving on the expressway this week and I was just about ready to pass a semi-truck. I think he had a regulator that only allowed him to go 60 miles per hour and the speed limit was 70. So I started to pass him. Just about the time I moved over into the left lane and came within one car’s length of the semi’s trailer, a car came out of nowhere in the right lane, doing close to 90 and cut right in between me and the semi!

I freaked out! My grandkids were screaming and my blood pressure went into the 'no-can-go'. I SOOOO wanted to get on that guy’s tail and ride his bumper into oblivion! Ugh! That would have made a lot of sense, right? I would be doing 90, he would be doing 90, and we’d both be in the dead zone soon!

What makes you go from laughing and singing in the car to a raving maniac in two seconds? Does this happen to you? Is there any way to prevent you from feeling this way? If  that’s my old sin nature creeping up I’d like to know.

The only thing that stops me from reacting instantly to situations like this is my license plate. It’s what they call a vanity plate but I think I should call it a sanity plate. Why, you say? Because mine says CBHKIDS. Now, to some people that will make no sense, but to those who know me, it’s inspired by the former name of our ministry: CBH Ministries. I have to watch where I park my car and what I do while I’m driving. And believe me, there have been times I’ve wanted to do some bizarre things just because someone else was stupid on the road. But that plate has stopped me cold more than once! Thank you, Lord!

I really don’t like it when I revert to my old sin nature. It says in Ephesians 2 that even though we used to be “children of wrath,” we are now made alive in Him! I really want my reactions to be more Christ-like and I shouldn't need to depend on a license plate to do it for me. Ugh! Life!