What driving strangers taught me about grace

I’ve been driving for a medical transport company for a few weeks now – it’s basically a service that takes people to their doctor’s appointments who would otherwise have no way of getting there.  And boy, is it stretching me.  I realized a few days ago, that I had begun developing a sense of bitterness against the people that I was driving.  Never mind the fact that I was being paid to drive them; that if they weren’t around I wouldn’t have a job.  Never mind the fact that my intense distaste for driving wasn’t their fault; in fact, had nothing to do with them.  I still found myself resenting their presence, counting down the minutes until I could drop them off and crank up the radio again.

But then one day, I picked up a man and his wife to take him home.  And I noticed that his neck was bleeding – presumably from some blood that was drawn or something of the sort.  And that’s when it really dawned on me some of what these people were going through.  I finally saw them not just as warm bodies to be transported from point A to point B, but as people.  People with real hopes and dreams and loved ones, who were going through really hard times.  Cancer, diabetes, heart failure, limb amputations, blindness…the people that I drive are going through some of the toughest things imaginable.  And all I could think about was getting them to their appointments as quickly as possible.

But seeing that man’s bleeding neck was like finally waking up after being doused with cold water.  I thought about how much I dread going to the doctor, even for simple, routine check ups.  And then I thought about how much more these people must dread going; because their visits are never routine.  They are frequent, painful, scary, and often life-threatening.  There is nothing simple or routine about going to the doctor for these people.

Kinda paints them in a whole new light, doesn’t it?  In an instant, my passengers went from nuisances to names, from problems to people.  It’s astonishing how my perception of them changed when I was able to see things from their perspective.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that that’s not the only situation in which I judge people without knowing the whole situation.  I do it a lot…probably every day.  We all do.  And that, I have no doubt, breaks the Lord’s heart every time we do it.  He wants us to love on others, to show them His gospel and teach them His good news, pure and simple.  Judgment is reserved for him alone. 

So the next time you find yourself frustrated with someone, take a step back and try to look at things from a different perspective.  From theirs, perhaps.  Or even better, from the Lord’s.  I think that you will find that things look a whole lot different when you are not focused on your own little world. 

The eye of the hurricane

I had a strange dream last night.  The fact that I had a dream in the first place is in itself a bit off – I hardly ever dream – but the actual content of it was even more bizarre.  I dreamt that I was with my 80+ year-old grandmother (don’t ask me why), and we got hit by a hurricane.  Three hurricanes actually, right in a row; each one more devastating than the last.  Never mind the fact that I live in a landlocked area that hasn’t ever been hit by even one hurricane in my entire lifetime; in my dream it made perfect sense. 

But anyway, I digress.  The first two hurricanes that came through, I was panicked and frantic, trying to figure out how to survive the catastrophe.  But when the third hurricane hit, I followed a different tactic.  I prayed the entire time, asking God to get me through it.  And it’s strange, because it all happened within a dream, but I remember feeling such a peace, knowing that God was there and looking out for me.  It was as if I had found the eye of the hurricane, that tiny circle of solace in the middle of the storm.  

After I woke up, I did some pondering and praying about that night.  I dream so rarely, that whenever I do I generally figure that there’s something that God wants to teach me, and I had better pay attention.  And I realized that, while God promises to always be with us, He has never promised that things will be easy.  Sometimes, in fact, He may even allow you to be brought to a place of desperation.  But He does this not to harm you, but because He loves you and wants you to trust in and depend on Him more fully.  Even if that means allowing you to go through terrible storms.  Don't assume you know the whole picture.  Regardless of how hopeless things may seem at the time, in the end, God WILL protect you and see you through.  

Job 1:21-22
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”  In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.