I was just thinking about ...
What a week,
thoughts were flying through my head like buzzards circling a potential meal. No
real rhyme or reason and floating just out of reach. Seems like I had been doing
nothing but running all week and accomplishing nothing. The Sunday morning
worship had been lackluster at best. The youth group and I just couldn’t seem
to connect. And the evening service, well, let’s just say, at least the potato
bar was a success. And here I was on the way back home from a visit at the
hospital in
It was at this moment, I looked in the rearview mirror and noticed a
police cruiser speeding up in the distance behind me. So I pulled over to let
him by. He didn’t go past but pulled in behind me! What the heck … what did
I do? The officer came over to the window and told me who he was and then popped
out with, “I clocked you at 45 in the 35 mile zone back there, do you have any
justification for going that fast?” Really, those were his words. Do you have
any justification for going that fast?
My face must have shown the confusion I was going through. I wanted to
blurt out a dozen excuses for not paying attention to my speed. But the best I
could come out with was, “No sir, none.” My spirits dropped and I waited for
him to ask for my license and registration. But he didn’t. He just smiled,
tapped lightly on my door to underline his words and said, “Take it easy from
now on, huh.” “Yes, sir and thanks officer,” I responded.
All the way home, my thoughts were no longer of the events of the last
few days. They went in a new, focused direction now. (And yes, I was watching my
speed now.) The words of that officer haunted me. “Do you have any
justification?” The truth is I don’t. Not for speeding, but for my life. In
an instant, my mind flashed to what it may be like standing before my Creator,
and hearing those words come from him. Standing before Almighty God as the
events of my life are reviewed, and seeing the occasional disappointed and maybe
angry looks, and heard those words, “What is your justification?” And the
best I could do is say, “None, sir.”
The image was only there for a moment but I also felt the presence of
Christ Jesus there, reassuring me of my forgiven state. I could almost see him
there, patting me on the back and whispering in my ear from behind, “I’ve
got you covered, take it easy from now on.” The reassurance of that moment
made me thankful for the officer being there to pull me over. Who knows, maybe
he saved my life in some way. But the real gratitude that washed over me that
evening was from the reassurance that Jesus will always be there for me,
wherever there is. And I never did anything to deserve it, it was given freely.
That helps me to remember that even when I’m having the worst possible week I
still need to smile, knowing that Christ died for me, and will be there when my
life doesn’t measure up.
I hope if anyone out there is having a bad week, they’ll get something
from my experience that will lift them up a bit and remind them of Christ’s
love. If this touches you in some way, let me know. Until then,
Drop
on by anytime, I'll be here and so will God,
Dennis