If you’ve ever rented a car at an airport, you’ve likely driven over a row of hinged spikes set in the pavement that point menacingly in the opposite direction. A huge sign screams, “WARNING, DO NOT BACK UP—SEVERE TIRE DAMAGE WILL RESULT!”
I find it unnerving to drive over those 6 inch sharks teeth, even knowing they hinge down safely and won’t damage the tires—that is, as long as I go through the gate the right direction. Even if you’ve never experienced these daunting devises, you can imagine how intimidating it is to drive a car over a row of menacing metal spikes.
Car rental companies use these to eliminate the need for a manned guard at remote entrances. Apparently they figure it’s better to replace a set of tires and foil a robbery than to lose an entire car. The point remains (sorry about the pun)—whatever you do, after you’ve chosen to enter their lot; don’t attempt to back up… it just won’t end well. There’s simply no grace available.
Granted, those ground spikes may seem like overkill, unless you witness, as I did recently, an inane driver backing down the entrance ramp into the oncoming traffic of I-70! Along with dozens of other drivers, I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and yelled “NO, YOU IDIOT!” Obviously he wasn’t listening as three lanes of traffic screeched to a stop! Suffering only a horn-lashing of atomic proportions, the senseless driver dodged a major calamity only because of the grace of the other drivers and safely merged back into traffic.
I wish I could brag that I’ve never followed a dumb first decision with an even dumber decision, but I can’t. Even when my heart is right I am prone to make wrong decisions. What I am most grateful for is the grace that God extends to me in the midst of rapid-fire stupidity. You may say, “You’re being too hard on yourself… we all make poor decisions” and you’d be right, but if the Lord used spike strips on the highway of life, holding us to one-and-done decision making, we’d be caught in a gridlock of flat tires.
Just like my backward freeway friend, we all need grace on a regular basis, don’t we? More often than we like to admit, we need others to screech to a stop and allow us back onto the road. Have you heard the theory that when we get to heaven our lives will play out like a video, showing us all the mistakes we’ve made and the countless times the Lord saved our bacon? Gosh, I hope that isn’t what happens… I can’t imagine sitting through that horror movie, can you?
I need His grace often and in large doses. Andy Stanley says in his book, the Grace of God, “When we are on the receiving end, grace is refreshing. When it is required of us, it is often disturbing. But when correctly applied, it seems to solve just about everything.”
Backing onto a busy freeway could be considered certifiable, but aren’t we all guilty of imperfect reasoning?
Take a minute and consider these verses about Grace—
“Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master,
Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves.”
Philippians 4:23 (The Message)
“A mean person gets paid back in meanness, a gracious person in grace.”
Proverbs 14:14 (The Message)
Lord, help me to be generous with grace toward those around me. Empower me to catch myself just before I pull the criticism trigger, granting them grace instead.
Read Ron’s column, Simple Faith, each Saturday on the Faith Page (page 3) of the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, or visit www.lancastereaglegazette.com.