I feel like my life is wasting away in road construction. LITERALLY. I am in construction traffic for almost two or more hours daily. But, one day, it was in this construction that God restructured my thoughts and actions to be more Christlike. The construction of reorienting our thoughts towards Christ is no less messy than the road construction I drive through daily, but the road God builds leads us to a life that is more fulfilling and peace filled.

One day, as I was driving up to an area notorious for aggressive drivers, I could feel my annoyance creeping in. There is this particular spot in the construction where an “entrance only” lane for the highway backs up pretty bad. Some people like to skip the line, go all the way to the front, and stop all of the traffic behind them while they force their way into the entrance lane. On the day God disrupted my thoughts, I was playing a game called “stop and go tailgating.” Please tell me that you know what I am talking about (and I am not the only one)! For those of you who are more gracious drivers than me, “stop and go tailgating” is where you go an inch, stop, go an inch, stop, go an inch, stop; keeping the space between you and your fellow carline person too small for a line cutter to squeeze their way in. It was during this overexertion of the brake pedal that God disrupted my mounting annoyance and said, “Leave room for them.”

Excuse me, what? Leave room for the rude person who thinks they are more important than all of us other drivers they are cutting in front of? Nope, don’t wanna, they are wrong. But, as God sometimes does, He repeated louder:

Leave room for them.

I stopped my aggressive tapdance on the brakes, and allowed a generous amount of space to grow between me and my carline companion. Sure enough, as predicted, a car whipped in. Except, this time I was not annoyed. Instead, I was fully and completely at peace. It did not make sense that I found peace in the exact action that usually ignites a profound sense of road rage. For the rest of the drive, I left “room” between me and all the other cars. When I got home, I was surprised to notice that, for once, I was completely relaxed after my commute. In fact, I was actually happy.

I think we forget that the peace of our Lord that surpasses all understanding truly means, surpasses all understanding. It is in the moments we invite Christ like behavior and Christ like thoughts that we experience supernatural peace. No aspect of our life is too tiny for God to use for His greater purpose, not even traffic. The tiny space I made in obedience to God created space for God to begin His own construction zone in my mind in which a new way of living was paved. 

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. In this new life it does not matter if you are Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free. Christ is all that matters and He lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Colossians 4:10-14 (NLT)

When I left space for a car to cut, I found myself leaving space for the person in the car. I found myself reorienting my thoughts from aggressive and protective of me and the rules of the road to seeing the car as the person inside of the car who is loved and created by the same God as I am. They are no longer the enemy rule breaker, but instead a human soul created by and loved by God. Living a life influenced by the cross and the resurrection of Christ means living a life marked by Christ. We are not our own, we were bought by Jesus’s blood from the cross and are made new by the same power that rose Jesus from the grave. When we leave our house, we are to clothe ourselves with “tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” no matter the circumstances. It does not matter the actions of others, we are only responsible for our own actions, and this is how God tells us to dress for the world: slip on a hat of humility, a shirt of gentleness, a cardigan of kindness, pants of patience, and walk in shoes of tenderhearted mercy.

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 4:13 (NLT)

Our clothing does not change just because others do wrong. It is not like I could stop the car mid-traffic jam and do an outfit change into boxing gear so that I could go round for round enforcing traffic etiquette. Likewise, our clothing is not to change just because someone wrongs us. Instead, like I made space for the car, we are to make space for others. And when they do wrong, we are to forgive. We are not called to be angry and demand an apology. Instead, we are to “remember” and then forgive. We are to start with remembering that we have been forgiven, meaning, we have made mistakes and done wrong as well. Our Father forgave us, and continues to forgive us knowing that we will sin again and again and again. Starting with remembering our own faults gives us the space we need to become humble, and in that humility we allow space for others to have faults as well.

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 4:14 (NLT)

It is interesting to use the driving testimony to write about my own growth in becoming gracious. Earlier today, while I was leaving my neighborhood, there was a very small car in front of me going extremely slow and taking forever to execute turns. This tiny car also drove strangely close to the curb and stopped the full three seconds, and maybe some change, at every single stop sign. There was a massive truck between me and this tiny car. I watched the large truck aggressively tailgate the small car, often slamming on its brakes because of the unusual driving. I could tell in the way the truck was drifting back and forth that the truck was impatiently trying to decide whether or not it was going to illegally pass the tiny car. We eventually made it to the main frontage road outside of the neighborhood where multiple lanes allowed the truck and myself to go around the car. Curiosity got to me and I looked at the driver of the tiny car. It was a teenage girl with her dad next to her. A new driver.

I reflected on the impatient behavior of the massive truck. It struck me that it had to have been terrifying as a new driver to have such a huge vehicle aggressively tailgating and swerving behind them. I was instantly enraged as I considered how I would feel as a parent if it had been my own daughter driving. BUT, then I remembered that her father was in the front seat. Her father was there with her, reassuring her, and reminding her how to drive. Her father was more than likely telling her to ignore the behavior of the driver behind her and instead, keep her eyes on the road ahead of her.

We are not alone when we clothe ourselves for the world. Our Father is with us. Our Father is next to us reminding us that we were created for a purpose and that we need to keep our eyes on our own road and not the actions of others. Our Father patiently reminds us that others will make mistakes, and when they do, we are to remember that we make mistakes as well. Our Heavenly Father patiently reminds us that He forgives us, and therefore we are called to forgive as well. Our God equips us for the road ahead, with all the bumps and turns, never abandoning us, and always calling us to a life of peace that surpasses all understanding as we orient our minds towards Christ. Even in the annoying times where it just doesn’t make sense.

Where in your life might need a construction zone with God as the project manager? Is God calling you to be less annoyed and more humble with those around you?