Now the sweet Kimmie within bites her bottom lip mentally screaming "TURN ALREADY!!!" trying her hardest not to lay on the horn. She tries with everything inside of her not to roll down the window and mean-mug the driver as she passes them up. Some days she might annoyingly swerve her wheel in a swift movement to go around them and with petty intentions jump back in front of them so as to prove to them that she isn't the one to jump out in front of and drive slowly. After all, she's got somewhere to be...even it means she's just going home! How can someone really drive 30 MPH anyways? Seriously?
Well, here's the deal. When I'm out of town, in unfamiliar territory I can honestly admit that I'm not quite the "demon" I described above. I typically google map my destination and spend a few minutes studying the route before leaving my hotel room/getting on the road so as to familiarize myself with my surroundings, exits, etc. But generally, I'm still not as versed in the details of the roads as I am in my home town. Whether streets only run one direction or have those silly 'roundabouts'; that kind of stuff.
But no matter how 'prepared' I try to be, I'm still at a grave disadvantage. I can easily be the person some native [insert city of your choice here] honks at, shakes the middle finger at or speeds around to prove that i'm in their way. I find myself at the mercy of those drivers. Now I could care less about the obscenities they shout at me or the rude gestures (after all road rage-rs ought to be able to be served the very things they dish right? It's only fair); but I'd like to be shown a little grace seeing that I didn't know that this was a turn-only lane. Or that this lane means you MUST exit NOW! How was I supposed to know that you CAN turn on red at this specific light? Give me a friggin' break!!!!
So I say all of that to say that today, before I got ready to let some guy who was hesitant to move over into my lane as I was trying to exit, have it; instead I thought about my first-time-in-a-new-city woes. And instead of banging my hands angrily on the steering wheel and mumbling "what are you doing?" under my breathe, I extended grace to him. The exact same grace I remembered that I would need had that been me in unfamiliar territory. Not long after I exited the freeway, God reminded me that it is with that type of reciprocity that we should seek to give grace to others.
Ephesians 2 talks about the grace extended to us. Grace that overlooks the filthy rags Isaiah (64:6) describes us to be. It's a slap in the face when compared to how unworthy of God's forgiveness we all are. But Romans 5:8 breaks down the immediacy of His grace:
"He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him." (The Message)
Having understood and received that grace, it is pertinent we extend that same measure of grace to others. We need it daily, as do those who interact with us. The person who gets on our last nerve at work, needs grace in the same way we need it from our spouse because we may be getting on theirs at home. The family member or close friend who did us wrong needs grace extended to them in the same way we need it from a loving Holy God who remains in relationship with us despite our sin that breaks fellowship with Him daily.
Bottom line: be careful not to walk around as if you are always driving in your native city. Because YOU'RE NOT!!!!
"The Lord has told you, ·what ·he wants [the Lord requires] from you:
to do what is ·right to other people [just],
love ·being kind to others [mercy; lovingkindness],
and ·live humbly, obeying [walk humbly with] your God." (Micah 6:8 Expanded Bible)
to do what is ·right to other people [just],
love ·being kind to others [mercy; lovingkindness],
and ·live humbly, obeying [walk humbly with] your God." (Micah 6:8 Expanded Bible)
