your way, the highway, God’s way

I scanned the road, 4 lanes wide, and saw nothing but empty space and a stoplight. I had just pulled into the closest lane when a horn blared from behind.

I glanced into my rearview mirror to glimpse a white sports car inches away from my rear license plate.

The screaming horn made my pulse race faster than the speedometer on my eco-friendly mini-van. I shot a look over my shoulder to see the lane beside me was entirely free. Had been the whole time. There was plenty of space for everyone on the road. Even still the driver stayed put, so I moved back over into the turning lane.

He raced around me, hands thrown in the air as if I’d just committed an unforgiveable crime by following the driving laws of the land.

He made it to the end of the street and stopped behind a string of cars at the red light. The same red light he would’ve caught even if he hadn’t chosen a grand display of road rage and moved over to the open lane.

I stopped behind him.

“Mom, you should honk at that rude guy.” The girls’ voiced my own thoughts from the backseat.

“Oh, trust me. I’d love to. But what good would that accomplish?” I realized God had just supplied me with a great teaching opportunity.

“Well… he did it to you, so you should do it back to him.”

We have a lot of tit-for-tat happening around our house these days. But the truth is, I see the same thing displayed in public, too. And I struggle with it, myself.

Get even. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Have the final word. Prove a point. After all, it feels natural, especially living on this side of the eternity.

“Do not repay evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:17-18)

What if we did things God’s way?

In the big things, of course. But especially the small things. Because everyone expects us to do right when it counts. And usually, we’re prepped for those moments when all eyes are on us and we know to perform well.

Yet it’s the little ones that sneak up on us. The daily temptations to lose our patience, to throw around harsh words, to let anger flare, or to give way to a short reply.

It’s those seemingly insignificant moments that can morph into the greatest opportunities we have to authentically practice and reflect the ways of Christ.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)

I don’t know how it works, I just know it does.

Because God’s way never leads us astray.

And it never will.