So today after church I went to the Target in south Stafford to work on my Bible Study because I had time before the YMCA opened at noon. I know it sounds weird that I went to Target to work on Bible study, but it has a Starbucks and tables and it was a more direct route than going to Fredericksburg. Since I don't have a job yet, I'm trying to conserve my gas as much as I can.
I spent about an hour and a half working on the Romans study for this week. It was Romans 12:9-21, where Paul talks about love and what it looks like. I know even those out there who maybe aren't Bible experts or even claim to know God probably have heard I Corinthians 13 (love is patient, kind, blah, blah, blah) but this section of verses is a little different, and in actuality very scary to try to live out.
Here's verses 9-12 for a taste: "9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
And it goes on and on like that, sucker punch to the gut after sucker punch to the gut until it ends with: 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. 20On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Anyway, back to the title of this post. As I was headed from Target to the gym, just as I got ready to pass under I-95, I saw something in the road ahead, from far off, with my glasses off (lesson #1) it looked like a plastic bag, so I point my car so that it would got under the center of my car. Yeah, it was only when I heard the THUD and saw piece of it flying everywhere did I realize it was a large block of styrofoam (at least that's what I hope it was). My car kept going and there weren't any immediate evidences of damage, but it sure made my heart leap to my throat. Immediately I prayed, "God please don't let this have ruined my car. I really can't take anything else." Now anyone who knows me knows that my car isn't a thing of beauty, it's pretty banged up, and it has almost 150,000 miles on it, but it's my car. I own it, it's one of the few things of value I actually own and with no job the prospect of a car repair bill terrified me. Tears filled my eyes as my heart rate got back under control. I didn't hear anything weird or smell anything weird so I drove on to the gym. As I got out of the car I made a mental note to check under my car when I left.
The hour or so later I came out to my car, started it, and drove away. Didn't look under the car once. Didn't even think about it until I circled past the space from the main road. All that angst and tears simply forgotten a hour later. How completely human of me.
I think that's why Paul has to tell us time and again and from every angle what love looks like. Cause if he didn't it would be like that thing in the roadway, a bump that jostles us for a minute and really makes us think about it, but we'll forget about it an hour later.
Here's the other thing I thought of, how stupid of me, with all the junk I've been through in these past few months to let a thing like that bring my heart to my throat and tears to my eyes. Just reminded me of where I trust God and where I don't. OUCH.
Oh, and here's the last thing I thought of in all this. I'm really hoping there's not damage at all, but since it's under the car it's not easily seen and it could be something like knocking the oil pan loose or something that would cause a slow leak and not reveal the real damage until later. Thinking about that made me go back to living love. Many, many times we choose to live out of self instead of out of love and the damage we do isn't always evident right away. But thankfully just like that slow leak could be fixed, God has a fix for us. I Peter 4:8 says this: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
So, um beware of stuff in the road, yeah.
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