I have an eighteen mile commute that feels like eighteen hundred miles on Thursdays. I’m not sure why getting to work takes so much longer on this day of the week. When I’m not flipping through the radio stations or catching up on the local news on my favorite radio channel, I often consider the many reasons why the Thursday commute takes so long: more lawsuits in the transportation industry, employees that they have a “longer hours/less days” week, or God’s way of letting traffic jams and slow cars force me to think of my freeway neighbors as I navigate through two freeway interchanges and several exit lanes.

If I allow myself to focus on the latter option, then it challenges me to think about the teenager in the little Honda in the next lane who just rear-ended the Lincoln in front of her. It’s just an accident and everyone is visibly fine, but when she calls her parents with the bad news, what kind of response will she get?

And what about that young mom in my rearview mirror? As she chats animatedly on her cell phone, disregarding California’s hands-free law, I wonder if anyone has taken the time to tell her that even though she might be “just a mom,” that puts in a few hours as a cashier for her. a local store that his career is as important as that of any high-level executive.

We listen to songs about long and stressful trips. The poetic license of the letter usually compares the drivers with individuals who march like ants without a destination. And as I continue down the road with these other drivers, I have to ask myself, “Am I driving like I have a known destination?” And if the answer is yes, I must also ask myself: “Do people want to follow me to this destination? Are they excited about what awaits them? Or are they hesitant to take the exit I have chosen, not sure what awaits us? ?”

These questions challenge me to consider the following verses:

“…To go out into the world without corruption, a breath of fresh air in this sordid and polluted society. To give people a glimpse of good living and of the living God. To carry the Message that gives light to the night so that I have a good reason to be proud of you on the day Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t do all this work for nothing.” Philippians 2:15 (The Message)

“…Then they will be won over to God’s side and will be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.” 1 Peter 2:12 (The Message)

Have you been driving as if you had a known destination? Do others follow you to see where you are going? Curious to see what exciting things await just beyond your exit ramp or exit?

© 2010 Lori Hartin