Flashing Lights

Stepping out from Walker Student Center into the bitterly cold 20 mph winds started my grumbling thoughts as I trudged to my car to go home. "Why couldn't we have the nicer weather like we had yesterday?!" I screamed on the inside.

I had a chai tea from Starbucks in one of the cup holders, and as I was driving, I went to pick it up and didn't get a good grip on the cup, causing it to slip from my hand and thus spilling it into the cup holder. Feeling inside of it to survey the damage, I grimaced as my finger felt the somewhat deep pool of chai that I would have to clean up later when I got home. "Just great," I muttered to myself.

As I drove past the Siloam Springs city limits, I saw millions of brake lights in front of me. I groaned and huffed yet again. "Good gracious, I'm NEVER getting home tonight!" I called my mom to tell her that I was stuck at a stand-still barely past Siloam and that I wouldn't be home right away, which was okay because she had taken Lindsey, my younger sister, to cheer practice and was out shopping anyway. We talked on the phone for a good ten minutes, with me inching about 5 feet every 2 minutes on the highway. After I hung up the phone with her, we started moving consistently. "Good deal," I muttered. "Now we're getting somewhere..." After crawling on the highway for another ten minutes, I finally saw the flashing lights that I was looking anxiously for. I didn't see anything but a ton of regular cars on the side of the highway. Three fire trucks were there, all with their hoses out. "What in the world?" I craned my neck to find out what was going on. I finally saw a semi on the side of the highway. Then, as I passed it, I realized to an extent what had happened. I gasped. The front end of the semi (where the engine and driver usually are) had been completely burned, charred. The only thing remaining was a metal rim of what used to be the front end of that semi. I have no clue if the driver is still alive or if he was injured at all.

As I drove past the sickening scene, I felt convicted. God was telling me, "You were seriously annoyed with those little things today?! C'mon, Lauren, you know better than that. Just think, I've given you another day to live, and to live FOR ME. Now act like it!"

My stomach flipped a little. I remember a few times while I was driving where I seriously could've died. There was the one time at the beginning of the school year when I pulled into Tontitown, and an old lady in a small tan car came at me IN MY LANE at 60 mph. It was a good thing there was nobody in the middle lane, because all I could think of to do at that moment was to swerve into that lane. I swerved back into the lane I had previously been in and started freaking out. I could have died... God had spared my life. There were other times, but that one has stuck out in my mind the most.

Back in the darkness and warmth of my car, I prayed. I thanked God that He HAD given me my life, and that He had let me live another day.

Because really, my life is in His hands and not my own.

That's a terrifying thought. But it's also a comforting thought, because who else would be better qualified to direct my paths and keep me from harm's way?

Father, help me to remember in the days when the little things seem to take over my life, that You have blessed me with this life that You've given to me. Help me to let my light shine before others, so that they may see You and give glory to You (Matt. 5:16). Thank You for blessing me this much; I don't even deserve it. But that's the beauty of grace! Thank You SO MUCH for Your amazing grace. Amen.