Drivers Education

Once upon a time, I took a class called drivers education. It was still offered in school, so it was free and we were graded on how well we did. Of course, that was many long years ago, back when people used their blinkers to signal a turn they were going to make BEFORE they turned and drivers wanting to turn into a driveway on the left-hand side of the road just after a stop light actually used the left hand turn lane to turn left and then make a legal right-hand turn into the place they were trying to go.

That seems like such a long, long, LONG time ago.

What’s troubling to me is that driver courtesy seems to have almost vanished in such a short time. First, and seemingly just a few years ago, there were a few people here and there that didn’t use their blinkers. Now it seems more like people use their blinkers only on a rare occasion or when doing so doesn’t prove to be overtaxing. Practically every day when I am on my drive home I see people who will go through the light only to make a left-hand turn at the very next driveway. This means crossing a double-yellow line and two lanes of oncoming traffic in order to turn into the same driveway they could have reached by taking the left turn lane and making a right turn. Instead, they block the lane they’re in for several minutes waiting for a way through. And don’t get me started about the people who think the right-hand merge lane is now the go-as-fast-as-you-can-to-get-passed-everyone-in-the-left-hand-lane-causing-them-to-brake-and-force-a-long-line-of-cars-to-stop-to-make-room-for-my-inept-merge-attempt lane.

What troubles me more is these are people setting examples for other drivers. And if we’re willing to treat our 2-ton brick-on-wheels as our own personal bully machine, what other areas are we choosing to allow our personal bias for selfish endeavors have full reign?

I get it – people are in a hurry. Heaven forbid we set our clocks back 10 minutes earlier, eat a little faster, or ignore our phone a little longer until we’re ready to leave for work with enough time to get there early. We’ve got important things to do and places to be!  

And maybe therein lies the crux of the problem. We’ve ignored priority. Sure we can all multi-task, especially when it comes to driving and doing anything with a cell phone, but in truth, are we learning how to multitask better or are we on a fast-paced plunge to get everything done at once, as fast as possible, so we can move onto the next thing? Maybe we have foolishly bitten off more than we can chew? I do that, far too often. It becomes a struggle between doing the things I love doing, the things I would like to do, and meeting the necessities of life.

Normally I would say make a list, check it off, and eventually you’ll see the bottom. Sadly, and probably far too often, the list fills up again long before we finish the bottom, leaving us struggling to get done what we already had and wondering how we will get that stuff done alongside everything else we have on our never-gonna-get-done list.

It’s no wonder one of God’s best commands involves simply being still. Don’t worry, don’t fret, don’t panic, don’t stress, don’t jump, don’t run, don’t freak out – just be still, and know that the responsibility for making it all happen doesn’t lay on your shoulders, but on His.

Didn’t get that new job or promotion?

Be still.

Can’t figure out where the money for the rent is coming from this month?

Be still.

Don’t know how you’ll pay for your kid’s college tuition?

Be still.

Don’t know how you’ll ever make amends for what you did?

Be still.

Don’t know how you’ll ever get them to believe you again?

Be still.

And when is the best time to be still? When you’re praying, changing the passing of time to the obliteration of time in the presence of God. Will He make your twenty minute commute into a five minute one? Probably not, but He might. He might also show you an entirely new route, one you’ve never seen before. A route filled with possibilities and hope, all for the simple price of being still.

So, with that in mind, I ask you: what is it that you are not being still about? What is it that has you vibrating like so many guitar strings and unable to clear your head for fear that your tenuous grip on reality will be lessened?

Speak it out loud and recognize openly that you can’t defeat it by yourself. You need someone who knows exactly what it takes to throw this kind of challenge on the mat and then toss it out of the ring. There’s only one person who knows your struggles better than you do, and He doesn’t want to add to them. He’s not about laying down the law or forcing a change for his own sake, but He is about doing what’s right and giving you what you need – not just to survive and claw your way through another day, but to live joyfully and free.

And that is a straight, narrow road, just waiting for someone to prove that the best and quickest way to get where you need to be, is to simply be still and let God do all the heavy lifting.