As I was driving home from work the other day in rush hour traffic, I came to a stop several cars back at a major intersection because the light was red. The lane to my right was free of traffic and I glimpsed a red car in that lane proceeding to the intersection. Then, before it reached the intersection, the light turned green and the driver continued into the intersection.
Unfortunately, a black car coming from the cross road to the left attempted unsuccessfully to hurry through the intersection before the traffic that now had the right of way began moving. The result, as you probably guessed, was a collision between the red and black cars with glass and metal flying everywhere and both cars spinning through the intersection involving several other cars. It reminded me of a commercial on television where two cars suddenly collide and the voice over says, “I bet you weren’t expecting that.”
Thankfully, the occupants of the vehicles were okay and after less than a minute the drivers got out of their cars. The driver of the red car looked like he couldn’t believe what had just happened. He looked at his car which was badly damaged, then at the black car, also badly damaged, and then he looked down the road where the black car had come from as if there he would find an answer to an unspoken question. There was no answer. And then the driver did something I’ve only seen on TV. He literally threw up his hands.
After all, he had the green light, so how could this happen? Green means go. Red means stop. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. And laws, after all, are laws. So if you have a green light, you are safe to go. End of discussion.
But is it? After all, who can guarantee that just because the light turns green for you that it will turn red for the other traffic? It’s supposed to work that way, but what if it doesn’t? And even if it does, who’s to say the drivers will always stop just because their light turns red?
We just trust that these things will happen. The question is this: is our trust misplaced? Starting in Jeremiah 17:5 it says, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD. . . But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.”
Now I don’t think Jeremiah was talking about highway etiquette in this passage, but how many times each day do we just depend on the “rules of the road” and totally forget who is really in control? How often do we trust in “mere humans” and forget to ask God for His protection?
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think we should ignore good defensive driving when we head out to work or to the grocery store. But, if that’s all we’re doing to make sure we reach our destination, aren’t we simply trusting mere humans. Shouldn’t we include God when we get behind the wheel? Mirrors. Check. Seatbelt. Check. Protect me, God. Check.
Thom Fishow
July 4, 2010