A Day on the Freeway

By Peter Lundell –   

February 19, 2014. 2:30 p.m.
57 Freeway northbound, right lane. 65 mph.
Siren behind me but nothing in the rear-view mirror.

Out of nowhere—a white four-door sedan careens across four lanes right at me. About to collide, I slam the brakes. The madman clears my front bumper by inches. He barrels up Pathfinder exit and looks back.

Flashing lights in the mirror. The siren. A highway patrol car veers across the lanes right behind me, misses the exit and tears up the embankment beside the exit, bounces over the curbs, and keeps charging after the lawbreaker—who apparently thought no pursuing cop would dare make such a move.

I’m now passing under the bridge. My hands are shaking. What just happened? And what didn’t happen is more terrifying. I could have been killed or grievously maimed for life if that sucker had hit me. If I had flipped. If I had been crushed by cars behind me. If I had not been paying attention as I drove. All in an instant.

The cars on the merging freeway drive along in their normal day. And we all live the same way, as if nothing will happen to us. Until it does. Or almost does. And it certainly does happen to someone every day. Like the four kids in our church who died on a nearby freeway when things didn’t go so well.

How our lives hang in a precarious balance. How the veil between earth and eternity can be so porous. How we must always be ready. We’re wise to put ourselves in God’s hands.

If you can grasp this as it relates to your own life, I’m sure you will appreciate the precious gift of life in the face of eternity. Live every day God gives you as a gift back to Him.

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. . . For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:1–2, 11 NIV).

“Lord God, my Protector and Shield, I know my days are numbered, yet as I live each day I do so by Your grace and protection. My life is in Your hands.”