Cut Off by a Minivan

By: Lyndsay Crews

Stuck in traffic…with squawking children…while running late…equals high frustration levels for this momma. Then, I see a car coming in the rear view mirror. It’s a woman in a minivan using the right turn lane as a passing lane! I see red and think to myself, “Oh no she didn’t. I’ve been waiting at this traffic light for 3 cycles and she wants to cut me off!” The minivan pulls next to me and stops. Great. The traffic light is STILL red, so she rolls down her window to ask me if she can cut over. I hear loud children in the background and notice she looks as stressed as I feel. Then, I realize that she is just like me: a stressed out momma who made a bad decision and in need of some mercy. The traffic moves forward and I let her cut in front of me.

Have you ever needed to get over while driving? I know I have and I’m thankful when someone let’s me over. When we empathize and understand that a person is ‘like us’, we are more likely to show mercy. It’s when we separate ourselves from a person because they’re ‘not like us’ that we dehumanize them and hope they get what they deserve. The truth is that none of us get what we truly deserve and God continually shows us mercy.

“Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” – Luke 6:36

Let’s try to remember that people are ‘like us’ so that we can be more merciful this week. Thank God for his mercy to you and ask God to show you how to be merciful to others.