I was talking to a friend the other day. She told me she thrives on road rage. She told me that she's one of those people that doesn't quit honking the horn until she's not mad anymore. And then she told me, "Thus, I lay on my horn. And honk a long time. I put my head out the window and I yell a lot too!"
She went on to tell me about one episode after another. Let's just say I told her that I would be afraid to ride with her after all the stories she told. It sounds dangerous!
I asked her if she sometimes got afraid that someday she might take it too far and that she'd mess with the wrong person and he'd shoot her (or worse!) because of it?
She answered me, "No. Because when I get in one of those moods an adrenaline of rage takes over and at that point I'm no longer afraid of anything. I'm like, "Come On!" And I dare them to mess with me! I invite them to!"
Woe! Like I said, I'd rather take my own car. I'll have to pass if she offers.
She continued. She told me that she always wishes that she could follow someone home (or to wherever it is that they're going) to confront them and tell them what an idiot they were for doing whatever it was that infuriated her so. "But," she said, "I'm always in a hurry. I never have time to."
"So," she proceeds with her story, "I decided to start leaving 45 minutes earlier every time I leave to go somewhere just so I will be able to follow the next person that cuts me off or pulls out in front of me.
And," she said, "it's been the wildest thing, I've not had the first person to offend me. Wow," she continued, "I realize that I'm the problem. When I'm in a hurry and only have so much time to get where I'm going it seems that everyone slows down or gets in my way on purpose. But, now that I have more time, I have the time to slow down a little and I no longer get mad at everyone around me that used to appear to be instigators or obstacles stuck in my way with the full intent of infuriating me purposefully."
Wow. Road rage isn't a weakness of mine (though I do have plenty of others); but that's something we all can learn from. When we're hurried we often tend to be meaner.... less patient... less kind. We're more on edge. We have less understanding. Little tolerance. And though we usually blame it on everyone else, often our rage is nobody's fault but our own.
Love is patient. Love is kind. It's not rude. It's not self-seeking. It isn't easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs.... (1 Cor 13).
And though Love may be patient and kind.... Road rage is not!
Anger isn't either.
Both are rude. Both self-seeking. Both easily angered. Both keep records of wrongs.
"Dear friends," John writes in 1 John 4:11, "since God so loved us, we ought also to love another."
Next time you have an urge to rage (whether on the road or elsewhere), remember to love like God does. No honking! No yelling! No name calling! No finger gesturing!.......
After all, when you're wrong, even if they're wrong, you're no righter than they are!
Father, forgive our road rages! We can quickly get out of control on our roads. Help us to keep our eyes focused on Yours and learn to love others like You do!
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