“Traffic Reports…” (by Mel McGuire)

I drove my family to a friend’s house for a birthday party recently Now this friend lives about eighty miles away, and our trip involved driving in parts of three or four counties.

As a result, I was concerned about the status of the freeways along our route.  To insure a safe, and uninterrupted trip, I monitored the traffic reports along the way.

We eventually drove on nine (yeah, I said nine) different freeways to arrive at our destination. We could have used just three, but because of the traffic reports, we used nine…this time.

We never backtracked or went out of our way, and every freeway we got on was moving at or near the legal limit, (Modesty and common sense prohibit me from saying how “near”) because I heeded (acted on what I heard) the traffic reports.

Now to take advantage of traffic reports (of delays, closures, accidents and congestion), I needed to know three things; where I was, where I was going, and how I could get there.

When I heard a report of a delay on the road ahead of me, I would alter our route, but we never got off track, we kept going in our intended direction. The other thing I do is this, I have the stations that give traffic reports preset on my radio, and I know how often they give updates, so I don’t miss them.

That is how our walk with God is sometimes.  You need to know where you are (not where you should be or want to be), where you are going, and how you can get there.

Then you need to monitor God’s frequency for “traffic reports”.  You need to know where others have been delayed, had accidents, or where the “road is closed”.  This way, you don’t waste time and energy backtracking, getting lost, or getting stuck along your way.

Now some folks check in with God at the beginning of their journey.  Then they pop in a CD or a cassette and off they go, not thinking about the trouble they could avoid, if they would monitor the “traffic reports”.

Then once they get caught up in some congestion, they are scrambling to get some information on why they are stopped, how long they are going to be delayed, and what is an alternate route they can take (could have taken?).

There are few things as frustrating as sitting in a traffic jam, listening to the traffic report, and hearing about everybody else’s freeway but yours! Because now you have no answer to your questions, “What is the holdup? Why the delay? How much more of this must I endure?”

Theology lesson: Sometimes you just have to sit and wait, or go real slow.  See an overturned car or an ambulance taking away an accident victim.It could remind you to slow down, watch out for others, or obey the laws, so that the same thing doesn’t happen to you.

But not us, as soon as we clear the scene, we are flexing that right foot. (Hey, all the Highway Patrol officers are dealing with the accident, and I have to make up for lost time!)

God uses delays, and will even have you stop from time to time. You may not ever see the reason for it.  He has a purpose in it, even if it’s as simple as reminding us to keep Him tuned in, so we can get updated “traffic reports” and arrive at our final destination safely.

Tune Him in, you may be due for an update…

                                                                                     Psalms 32:8   (God is our “eye in the sky”)

“Plain Car…” (by Mel McGuire)

A previous work assignment allowed me to drive an unmarked police car, what we officially call a “dual purpose” vehicle, or in common terms, a plain car.

It is a police car, a bonafide emergency vehicle, equipped with lights and siren and all the things that make a police car a police car…except it’s not black and white.

I was giving a presentation to a group of elementary students and one of them commented, “That doesn’t look like a police car.”

I turned on all the lights…then the siren, and then used the loudspeaker to ask them, “Does it look like police car now?” They all yelled, “Yes!” And I got a message from the Lord about my “plain car”.

First, if the person inside the car is a police officer, that kind of makes the car a police car…there is a policeman in it, and the police come out of it. Just because it doesn’t look like what you’d expect doesn’t mean it isn’t genuine or official. It’s who is inside which matters.

Secondly, some of us are spiritual “plain cars”…we don’t look like believers. We fit in with normal traffic; people say and do things around us not knowing we are children of God.

Then they cross a line, break a rule, and we turn on our lights and sirens. Then they know we belong to God, get convicted, and they watch themselves around us. It’s easier to catch people slipping when you are in a plain car.

Finally, it is okay to be a “dual purpose” vehicle for the Lord. I’m not talking about living a double life, or having two separate identities (you know, the Sunday you, and the “rest of the week” you), but I do believe God has not called all of us to be “black and whites”. You can tell a black and white from a great distance, and sometimes God needs to catch people “in the act”, so they will repent and not deny.

Pastors and other spiritual leaders are called to be the black and whites, to obviously stand out, at all times in all situations. That is why they wear collars, and robes and vestments…to signify their place and role as spiritual leaders. But most of us need to work regular jobs, and go to school, and shop, and live “normal” lives…we need to fit in a variety of places.

We are plain cars. But when the situation calls for it, we are equipped with lights and sirens and a loudspeaker. We let it be known that the kingdom of God is present, because God lives in us and comes out of us.

We should be encouraged that while we are all not meant to be pastors, we all can minister. We can get closer to people, fit into more situations, and have a more intimate impact than the “official God representative”.

If people look closely, you can see the lights and other things that indicate a plain car is much more than that. The same is true with your life and lifestyle. If others look close enough, they can see the differences. Just because a light is not obvious, doesn’t mean it is hidden.

Being in the presence of a police car should make people want to do right. Being in your presence should make people want to live right…because you are living right…as a plain car. God’s plain car…Him in you, and jumping out of you!

“Up front…” (by Mel McGuire)

When my daughter was heading towards her teenage years, she asked if she could move from the back seat of the car and start riding up front. She was legally qualified to make the move (and she had been for a couple of years), so we granted her request. But we did it because we felt she was ready, not simply because she met some general qualifications. It takes a certain maturity to ride…up front.

Once she got up there, she began to see driving from a different perspective, and consequently she asked a lot of questions and offered some unsolicited advice. When you ride up front, you see more of what actually goes into driving a vehicle, and you see more of what is going on around the vehicle. Getting from one place to the next is different when you are riding…up front.

From the back seat she had a limited perspective and world view. Most of what she saw was out the side window, as her view to the front was shielded by seats and parents. Once she began to ride up front, the backseat became a distant memory, or sometimes a place to store her baggage. She became much more aware of the numerous hazards of driving when she began to ride…up front.

When she sat in the back, communication could be a challenge, but once she came up front, she could talk to us face to face. This made for better and more intimate conversations. I must admit, that part I enjoyed about her riding…up front.

Oh how I long in my journey in Christ to ride up front. To see and know everything He is doing, to anticipate the hazards, to inquire why He chose to take me one way as opposed to another, to be close to Him, communicating with Him face to face. I just want to observe how He maneuvers through traffic, understand why He picks the lane I am in, and how He observes the rules of the road as He gets me safely to my destination.

But even in Christ, it takes a certain maturity to ride up front. We can’t bring our backseat perspective and expect it to serve us when we ride up front. No one likes a “backseat driver”, especially if they are sitting up front! We have to realize why it is so important to our safety to let the driver drive. He has the wheel, and is in control of the gear we are in, the accelerator, and the brakes. We really need to be able to sit back, stay out of his line of vision, and let him drive!

God has a plan for our lives. He knows how to get us to our destiny safely, while allowing us the privilege of watching Him as we enjoy the journey. Eventually we will get to ride up front, not because of some arbitrary qualification, but because He believes we are ready…to sit closer, to talk face to face, and to learn exactly how and why He does what He does. God wants us to know how to anticipate danger, how to maneuver through the traffic jams of life, and how to benefit the most from riding with Him…up front.