As you consider these points, ask yourself, “Do I drive like a Christian, or like an Atheist?” Here are things you should do and should not do if you want to glorify God through how you drive.
Do…
1. Approach the Throne of grace with confidence, that you may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16) (ESV). You don’t have to sin by 1) trying to escape the situation apart from enjoying Christ, 2) doubting God’s sovereignty, 3) fearing the opinions of men above fearing God, 4) wanting your will to be done, or 5) exercising unrighteous anger. As you approach the Lord through the finished work of Christ, He will provide you with enough grace to help you in your time of need. His grace is sufficient; and we should be thankful that traffic helps us to understand this reality.
2. Consider the needs of your neighbors (Mark 12:31). Do you ever think that everyone else in traffic has somewhere to be as well? Do you care where they need to be? Or, are your needs and wants more important than all of God’s other image-bearers?
Don’t…
1. Run to another gospel. In order to occupy our time, or attempt to escape the situation, we may exercise various “nervous ticks,” attempting to escape the moment. We need to ask ourselves why we are doing such things. Our trust must be in the Lord, not in escaping the situation… even if it’s just for a moment. We may 1) gulp a pack of m&m’s, 2) go through all the radio stations nervously, 3) talk to ourselves as we blame whoever the “guilty” party is for us being late, etc. We should instead run to the gospel, enjoying Christ through His finished work, even in this moment.
2. Doubt the sovereignty of God over the situation. If we are late for a meeting, a family engagement, a work-related sale, a family event, a doctor’s appointment, etc., we may worry. Worry simply shows our doubt in the gospel, our doubt in the finished work of Christ reconciling us to God the Father, the only thing we absolutely need. A traffic jam does not change this reality; so, what are we so upset about? We may even play out a terrible scenario in our head of us 1) blowing an important sale, 2) losing a friend, 3) disappointing a loved one, 4) dying due to a missed doctor’s appointment, or 5) being fired because we were late. NONE of these things have happened yet; and if they do, God is still sovereign over these situations as well. So, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Phil. 4:6). Trust Him alone; if you worry, you are not trusting that the Lord is sovereign over all situations.
3. Fear the opinions of men above the Lord. If we are late for something that may cause people to change their opinions of us, we must be careful to not covet their opinions. Instead of possessing unrighteous anger, we should instead fear the righteous Lord. If God’s opinion of us will not change, then we should be satisfied in Him. An easy litmus test to help us discern whether or not we care more about the opinions of men than God’s opinion, is if we are willing to sin so that men, women, and children will think well of us. For example: being sinfully angry in a traffic jam because we fear the anticipated opinions of men reveals our idolatrous desire for men to think well of us.
4. Think or act as if it’s your world and everyone is just living in it. Do you ever think “Don’t they know that I have to be somewhere?” I imagine that no one hopes to get stuck in traffic. Who likes traffic? Also, isn’t everyone else hoping to get somewhere as well? Why are you so important? The answer is that we’re no more important than anyone else. Thoughts like the selfish one mentioned above occur because we are sinners; and we doubt the gospel. What we are really saying is “My will be done!”
5. Exercise unrighteous anger. If God isn’t mad about it, you shouldn’t be either. Righteous anger glorifies God, but unrighteous anger reveals your desire to be Him. We have no right to be angry about realities that God is not angry about. Trust in Him alone; and enjoy Him beyond your situation.
What are your thoughts?
Source: MOST of these ideas were not original with me. Most were borrowed from Paul David Tripp and David Powlison in their DVD study Changing Hearts, Changing Lives. I highly recommend it!
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A good incentive to control road-rage:
kids are watching you
A story: my husband usually drove out delightful five-year old son down to Pompton Lakes in NJ for his Saturday morning karate lesson.
One Saturday, my husband being otherwise occupied, the task fell to me . . . so into the car my son and I, and down we are driving past the reservoir and towards town, when
ALL OF A SUDDEN, a lady in a huge cadillac cuts me off so sharply that I had to hit the brakes to avoid an accident. At that very moment, my adorable blond innocent five-year old comes out with ‘Get out of the way, you _ _ _ _ _ _ _ turkey!’
Yes, he said THAT word.
I was so shocked, I pulled the car to the side of the road, and stopped. I looked at my son, and calmly asked him where he had heard those words.
He looked at me with a big smile, and said,
“DADDY”.
Well, I had a private talk with ‘Daddy’ when we got home.
Our children are watching us constantly. They’re little sponges, absorbing everything; even what we don’t want them to absorb.
Hi JARED,
my little five old knew ‘THAT word’, but he honestly had no clue what it meant. Years later, when I taught school, if a child came out with a ‘whopper’, I took them just outside the classroom door and calmly explained that the term they had used was not an ‘appropriate’ term to be used in school. They were not ‘disciplined’ harshly but were taught with a gentle firmness, and I think that using a patient manner with them was more far more productive than an over-reaction.
More often than not, kids use language they pick up from others and they don’t understand the meanings of certain terms.
This discussion reminds me of a scene from “A Christmas Story.” If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I can’t help you. Anyone who hasn’t nearly memorized that movie is woefully under-educated.
Ralphie, Scott Farcus, fight, ‘uncontrollable language’, Mom, ivory soap (yuck!)
a classic for sure
(I thought about ordering one of those novelty ‘leg lamps’ for my husband as a joke last Christmas . . . you can even order the wooden crate with ‘FRAGILE’ stamped on it.
. . . but alas, it was not cheap enough, and I am way too cheap . . . it would have been fun for him, I think.
Maybe I can overcome being cheap just enough to do it this coming Christmas.
In those states that only provide one license plate .. ostensibly for the rear bumper .. I think it’s good to put a JESUS plate on the front. And then a Christian symbol on the rear deck lid or somewhere it’ll stand out. That way, you just KNOW that the folks following you, or that guy that wants to pull out of the side street when you’re lined up in rush hour … you KNOW that THEY KNOW … and that makes it a lot harder to avoid being courteous and accommodating.
I love driving in Jamaica. I once observed to the pastor at Red Hills that I was amazed that if you didn’t quite get that car passed in time, the oncoming drivers would accommodate you without any gestures other than a friendly wave .. or if you wanted to pull out from a side street, folks would readily let you (I’ve never had to wait more than 2 cars, and I’ve been there a LOT) .. or if you had a flat tire, you just pull to the right of the road surface and change it, and everyone would just give you the room, if not stop and help.
When I mentioned that to Calvin, he said “Of course .. why WOULDN’T we want to be cooperative?”
Uhhh … make that pull to the LEFT. They drive on the wrong side over there.
My mom was a good driver – not perfect, but she was good enough to handle snowy Ohio winters with skill and finesse. She was always very conscientious of how her driving affected other drivers. She occasionally complained about the “lane-changers”, the traffic opportunists, on the highways in non-angry terms. But mostly I remember hearing her apologize to other drivers who couldn’t hear her when she inconvenienced them with a poor driving maneuver.
I remember from my earliest age being taught that the American philosophy of behavior in traffic was one of defensive driving. I don’t think that’s being taught anymore.
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