Blinkers

As I sat at a stoplight waiting to turn right, I watched a flock of cars turn left without signaling. Once again I wished that people would use their blinkers.

That started me thinking about how much easier life would be if we all had signal lights to warn each other what we were about to do. If my kids would signal when they were planning to go to a party where alcohol would be flowing. My husband would use his blinker to say that he was about to spend the evening watching football when I was hoping to go out to eat. My boss’s lights would warn me that I was about to hear about that mistake I made.

Would such a thing aid communication, or hamper it? Maybe we would be like some drivers: I’d see your signal and speed up to keep you from getting in my way. Or you’d pretend not to notice me trying to get on the freeway.

I guess God has given us signals, even if people don’t. His Word shows us how to stay on the straight road, and not turn to the left or to the right.

Most of us have not picked up a driver’s manual since we first got our license. Amazing how many rules we’ve forgotten, isn’t it?

In the same way, we have a tendency to forget God’s rules for our life if we don’t review the Book regularly. Oh, we remember the “big 10”—most of the time. But how often do we remember Jesus’ words about our hearts?

“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment!” (Matthew 5:21-22, NLT).

A little later, He told His listeners, “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28, NLT).

Ultimately, if we study God’s Word regularly, He’ll help us follow the better route of love, and we won’t need blinkers to signal our intentions to others, after all.

Kicking and Screaming, Part 2

Today I felt like God was smacking me “upside the head.” Lovingly, of course.

Two friends and I started prayer-walking this morning. We decided to pray silently as we walked, which was a good thing, since I don’t think I could have prayed out loud without getting choked up. Every time I tried to pray what I thought we should, God jerked me around. It seemed as though He was saying, “No, honey, that’s not what you need to be praying about. I want you to pray about your own heart.”

Then, in devotions—I’m blessed that we have devotions every morning at work—we sang Have Thine Own Way and I Surrender All. And God kept asking me, “Why won’t you trust Me, honey?”

See, I have been praying for something specific to happen, something that I thought was the only way a certain situation would improve. But I realized this morning that God is big enough to change the situation in an even better way than I envisioned. He wants me—instead of telling Him what to do—to just trust Him.

As if that wasn’t enough to convince me, I picked up a devotional book around lunchtime. I turned “by chance” to a chapter about trusting God. Once again, I realized that I haven’t been trusting Him to take care of the difficult situation.

Tonight, I found these verses in Nehemiah 18:

“So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.' But they will reply, ‘It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart’ ” (verses 11-12).

It’s pretty clear that God wants me to change, instead of praying for other circumstances to change. My heart is stubborn, but God is pulling me—kicking and screaming as I am—back toward Him. Now I just have to trust Him to help me change, because I sure can’t do it on my own.