Most days I’d like to think of myself as a kind, polite fellow. I open doors for strangers, I let people with two items cut in front of me at the grocery store, and I usually remember to say “please” and “thank you.” But put me behind the wheel, and suddenly I morph into a less charming version of Mr. Bean with road rage.
I have one glaring weakness: other drivers.
Something about being on the road awakens the part of me that dreams of turning my Toyota Corolla into a Mad Max (meets Micro Machines) machine, complete with spikes, cannons, and a “get out of the way” button. (Pretty sure that’s against California DMV regulations… but if they offered it as an upgrade package, I might be tempted.)
What are the “cardinal sins” of my fellow motorists? Going 20 under the speed limit. Refusing to use a turn signal (seriously, is it broken or just decorative?). Drifting across lanes like Ross from Friends trying to pivot a couch. Every little thing makes me think, Lord, rapture me now before I say something unholy.
But here’s the truth: aren’t you glad God doesn’t keep score of our sins the way we do in traffic? If He did, I’d be a spiritual pileup on the side of the road. Instead, He extends grace—over and over again.
Scripture reminds us:
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” – 1 Peter 4:8
The real problem isn’t always their driving; it’s my impatience. Sometimes I’m not late because of the car in front of me—I’m late because I didn’t leave on time. And then I expect the world to move at my speed.
I’ll never forget one Sunday morning, rushing to get to church of all places. I was stuck behind a car doing 45 in a 55, grumbling that I was being robbed of my holy punctuality. A few miles up, I saw flashing lights and a terrible accident where someone had run a red light. Had I been going faster, I might not have made it to church at all.
God wasn’t robbing me of time—He was sparing me from danger.
So now, whenever my “driver Tourette’s” starts flaring up, I try to remember this:
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” – Ephesians 4:2
If God can bear with my stubbornness, my impatience, and my tendency to act like the Corolla is a Formula One car, surely I can learn to bear with a driver going a little too slow. After all, sometimes God’s greatest blessings come disguised as traffic jams.
TMDPB - The Modern Day Parables Blog 