SUNDAY: Bible Study - 9:00 AM | Worship - 10:00 AM | PM Worship - 6:00 PM WEDNESDAY: Bible Class - 7:00 PM ~ 8110 Signal Hill Road Manassas, Virginia | Office Phone: 703.368.2622

         Reason #31 for why I am a terrible person (and yes I have a list): When I am driving and get stuck in traffic because of an accident my impulse is to get really angry.  I am the last person to have the right to get angry at someone having an accident – I have had several – but still, my initial reaction to sitting in traffic when the flashing lights pull past on the berm of the road is to think (and frequently shout) one of the following things:

“I guess if we haven’t had rain for a few weeks everyone forgets how to drive in it!” (this only applies if it is raining)

“I knew it was going to be one of those days where everyone takes a double dose of stupid pills!”

“What was the point of winning the Cold War if we have to live like this?!”

Only a terrible person would think those things and here is why: if the flashing lights are speeding by on the berm of the road someone is probably hurt. Maybe more than one person is hurt. Maybe there are children involved. Maybe it is a really old guy, or some brand new driver that panicked and they are severely injured.  Maybe they injured someone else and now will never be able to forgive themselves. Maybe it is someone I know – maybe one of my kids, or one of my sons-in law, or my nephews, or one of their girlfriends. Maybe there are fatalities.  Even if there are not there may be hospital stays, months of therapy, perhaps permanent disability. Even if you get better you never forget (I know this first hand). Things will never be the same as they were before for anyone involved.

I would think these things after shouting something about the rain, the Cold War, or stupid pills and know surely that I am a terrible person. And so I would pray for God to forgive me for being such a terrible person.  I trusted in His grace to forgive because my repentance (or at least my guilt) was sincere. But I never changed.  The next time the impulse was the same.  Jesus said it isn’t what goes into a person that defiles him, it’s what comes out (Mark 7.20ff). What comes naturally out of this person in Beltway traffic is pretty defiling.

Then it occurred to me that my urgent prayer for forgiveness was still a focus on self. I was angry because I was inconvenienced. I wanted forgiveness because I felt guilty. Both impulses focused on “I”. The selfless thing would be to pray for whoever was involved in the accident. And so I set about training myself to do just that.  It had to be deliberate – it never happened naturally. Anger happened naturally – time after time after time. But I established a new pattern – I dug myself a new rut (“Digging ruts” is reason #55 – three steps up and two steps back) – I would pray, first thing, for everyone involved in the accident that has turned these four lanes of blacktop into a parking lot. And I did.

And something weird happened last night. I was driving home from DC around 10 pm, sitting in stop and go traffic on I 66 near exit70, thinking about getting off and hooking up with Route 50, and about the point of winning the Cold War when flashing lights flew by on the berm, and I, quite naturally, started to worry and pray for whoever was involved in the accident ahead. I never once wondered if someone has taken stupid pills. I just hoped everyone was okay, and was praying for the same.

The thing about all those verses telling us to be obedient is that none of them makes “feeling like it” a prerequisite for doing what we are told. Feelings produce behavior, certainly, but behavior can change our feelings too.

Well, that’s what I am doing about #31 on the list of why I am a terrible person. If I make any more progress I’ll let you know.

NewManassas Side

8110 Signal Hill Road | Manassas, Virginia

Let us know about your interest in Studying the Bible

Members Login

Bible Study

biblestudysd

Top
                                                                       © 2013 Manassas Church of Christ