Good morning church family,
When I was learning how to drive as a teenager, I won praise from both my parents for how well I did behind the wheel. “You’re a natural,” I can remember them telling me as I navigated the back roads of Vermont with one or the other of them in the front passenger seat. This affirmation probably meant more coming from my mom as she wasn’t as apt to throw bouquets at us kids as my dad was. But back then I heartily drank down any words of commendation. In the midst of all my teenage floundering and failing, it was nice to hear that, in at least this one aspect of my dawning adulthood, I might be okay.
But despite all the accolades, there was one aspect of my driving that drew swift criticism from both of my folks. Most of the roads that we’d go driving on were lonely, two-lane country roads that ran beside winding rivers, across farmed fields, or through mountain passes. I would be calm and relaxed; my operation of the vehicle as smooth and as easy as could be. I kept that Ford Tempo smack dab in the center of its lane; the engine’s rpm matching my resting heart rate with speeds just a tick above or below the limit. But as soon as my eye caught another motorist closing fast on me in my rearview mirror, I became an altogether different driver. With a car riding my back bumper, I would sit up and over the steering wheel, my speed would increase to ten or fifteen miles over the limit, and my wheels would begin covering the yellow and white paint on either side of the lane.
“John,” my dad would say after glancing at the sideview mirror, “don’t worry about him. You need to slow down.”
“But Dad,” I’d say as my eyes darted back and forth from the road to the rearview mirror, “he’s right on top of me!”
“Son,” he’d calmly try again, “don’t worry about him. You can’t let his driving affect what you’re doing. There’ll be an opening sooner or later and he’ll get around you.”
There were lots of conversations like that; my mom and dad taking pains to teach me not to be bullied into bad driving by tailgaters pushing from behind. But whether it was my accommodating nature, my teenage desire to fit in, or my pride in not wanting to be passed by – I continued to struggle with this response throughout my learner’s permit days and for quite a few more years after I got my license. In my life, as in my driving, I often struggle with standing firm against a flow of traffic that is racing toward everything that’s wrong.
As we drive along here in 2025, we need to be sure to guard our hearts as we look in the rearview mirror. If we’re being faithful to the call of the gospel and the truth of the Word, it’s likely that our righteousness will be an obstacle to the progress of some wicked plan being pursued in the world. And those pursuing that evil course will surely get right up on our bumper, flash their headlights, honk their horn, and perhaps threaten us in their raging. But let these driving instructions of our Heavenly Father calm us down and focus our eyes back on the road ahead. “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1Corinthians 15:58) And also this: “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)
“John,” the Lord has said to me time and again, “don’t worry about them. Just drive the way I taught you.” And when I do, His accolades and encouragements are worth more than the world to me.
We’re looking forward to getting together in the morning to fellowship in the love of the Lord and in the joy of His gospel. It will be so good to sing and to pray and to encourage each other! May the Lord, mighty God, bless and continue to keep us!
- Pastor Tate
