“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness,” Matthew 6:22-23, NIV.
I use to drive less than two miles to work. One would think that this is too short of a distance to have an LA driving experience. I would have to argue that it actually isn’t.
For example, while driving to work one morning, a car cut me off. No signal, no wave for permission to merge—he just entered my lane—where I immediately applied my brakes. This was very typical of my morning commute. Another typical maneuver for the LA driver, is the “Even though the light is red, I have been waiting in this left hand lane to turn for awhile. I’m taking my turn when I want.” There are typically three cars that believe they have a right to make other drivers wait as they run their red light.
One morning as I was waiting to turn at a stop sign, the man whose turn it was smiled and waved me through. This wasn’t an “I’m doing this because I have control,” wave, or an “I feel good about myself,” wave, but a genuine, “I’m not in a hurry, please go,” wave. His wave was filled with patience and gentleness. How do I know the difference? It’s all in the eyes of the driver. Eyes don’t lie. There is a difference. Matthew 6:22 confirms that.
I believe this is true. I have seen the eyes of the red light runners, those of frustrated lane changers, and even those of the patient driver.
I now have to look in the rear view mirror and make sure my driving eyes match my praying ones. That I drive as a child of God, and that I represent Him at every turn and at every stop.
I have unfortunately become accustomed to our LA red light runners. So familiar, in fact, that their driving doesn’t even surprise me anymore. What does surprise me are those kind drivers with a thoughtful wave.
If I were to choose, and it is actually something I can do, I’d rather wave a gracious hand than lift a frustrated fist.
How about you? Are you a fist lifter or a driver with kind eyes?
Father,
I need eyes to see You before I see others. For when I look through my human eyes, I see the faults of the world, and I tend to judge and categorize them. It’s like driving through an obstacle course, and at the end I’m exhausted.
As I view the world through Your lens of grace, I’m seriously at peace. You sustain me, and You teach me how to love others, even in traffic. I need Your help again today. As I fasten my seatbelt, help me to remember to ask for Your loving eyes to see—to be Your light for others.
Amen.
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