Something happened the other day and I have to share it…

Elizabeth, Ruby and I were headed away from a pre-surgical clearance appointment for Ruby as I carefully maneuvered the crowded, rush hour streets.

Amidst a long line of cars waiting for the light to change to access the freeway, the cars in front of us started to move.  I personally am a hang-back type driver,  being as far away as possible from anyone around me.

Anyway, in front of us was a small car and in front of that car was a large SUV.  As the cars moved, the SUV did too, but for some reason the SUV suddenly stopped.  The car behind {which was in front of me} probably wasn’t paying attention and had accelerated faster than they should in the giant mess of traffic. With the SUV suddenly stopping the accelerating small car hit the SUV and the SUV bounced with the impact.

I mean bounced!!

“Elizabeth!! Did you see that?  The little car in front of us hit the car in front of them!”

I was captivated!  Watching the SUV move slowly forward, I wondered if she was going to just forget about it.  I couldn’t imagine since the bounce had been a hefty one!!  But instead, she moved forward about 100 feet to a driveway and turned into an empty parking lot that I hadn’t noticed before.

The car in front of me, who had hit her, moved forward too, seemingly following her lead.  Then instantly the lane to the left of us opened up and in one swift motion the little car in front of us swooped over and drove up to the light.

My mouth dropped open! He was making a run for it!!

The young woman in the SUV jumped out of her car and upon seeing him make a run for it, began jumping up and down…and he was now many car lengths away (although still sitting in tons of traffic).

Other folks were now standing with the woman, maybe they were her passengers, I’m not sure.  But there was a bit of car-chaos going on – no doubt others had watched him “exit stage left”.

I wondered what I should do.

I was dumbfounded! How he could just drive away from the scene yet be stuck in traffic a half-dozen car lengths in front?

Still in the turning lane to get on the freeway, I debated jumping out of my car and running up and taking a picture of his license plate.

Then I remembered hearing a man speak recently [who is an authority on this] that something like 70% of people driving cars in metro Phoenix are also carrying a gun.  I did not want to jeopardize the safety of Elizabeth, Ruby or myself over a small accident that I wasn’t even a part of.

Anyway, as it was, the traffic just kind of opened and I was able to pull right up next to him.  He was about 25 years old, very handsome and looked extremely worried. He was nervously rubbing his hands together.  I stared right at him and he turned to face me.  I slowly mouthed to him, “You need to go back.”  He nodded and mouthed, “I know.”  But then turned to face the light.

At that moment I actually was overcome with pity for him.  He was clearly nervous and he totally knew what he was supposed to do.  Yet he didn’t do it.

I have no idea what brought this handsome young man to a place where he would not own up to what he had done, but I have to believe from the look in his eyes, that he knew what he was supposed to do, yet he flat-out ignored his conscience.

I wanted to yell, “Dude!!  I can tell by the look on your face that your mama didn’t raise you to drive away, now get your bumbum back there and make it right!”

[But I didn’t.]

I have thought of that young man many times since that day. I would totally recognize him in a crowd and I’ve already looked for him around town when I’ve been in that neighborhood – ha!

This verse pops in my head:  “For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.” Luke 8:17

As I’ve pondered the handsome young man who took off,  I’ve thought about how many times in life we have the opportunity to make a choice that boils down to this: We either honor the Lord or we don’t.

I have no idea what his relationship with Christ is, but no matter what, we all can apply the situation to ourselves.  Oh I readily admit it can be easy to “turn away” and ignore the “do the right thing” idea…but that only serves to make our hearts hard.

Instead we are called to daily obey Him.  It’s not old-fashioned, it’s called, Christ-likeness. It doesn’t “ruin our day”…it gives  us joy – we can sleep at night without guilt.  And when we obey Him and His word, He uses us to bring honor to His name.

With so much “cultural wishy-washiness” [even in the church!!] we have to be vigilant to seek to please, honor and obey Him in everything.

Even a relatively simple fender-bender.

 

PS.  Feeling compelled to write this post, I couldn’t help but feel that there was someone reading who is flirting and toying with having an affair.  Stop!!  It will never bring happiness.  Just stop. Repent.  Get accountable.