Ok, so I have a bad habit of straightening out curves as I drive along on them. I think that bad habit started the first time that I was responsible for driving the car to Hana. If you’ve never had that experience before—you simply must. Hairpin turns in and out of cliffs and valleys with the ocean right below you. My kind of road.
So, I straighten out the curves when I’m driving at any chance I get. Now there are a few rules about straightening out the curves.
1. You MUST be able to clearly see if another car is coming.
2. Learn to use your horn
3. Try to take the straightest path possible.
Maybe that sounds crazy scary to you. I learned it first driving country roads in Iowa. They were essentially straight except for the short hills that would blind you from on coming traffic. How any of us teens survived the insane driving and racing we did when we were young, is a miracle.
Anyway, back to today. I took the back road to my house, and it was clear, so I straightened out as many curves as I could. Well, until my van hit a railroad spike and with a loud POP went flat. I immediately began to pray. Yes, of course I can change a car tire. But I couldn’t find where the donut tire was located in my van. I started to pray real hard for help. The Sheriff stopped first. He was great, he knew immediately who I was and asked how my kids and I are doing, and reminded me that if we ever need help to call the department. Then the Tabb Coach stopped by, drove back to the tracks and picked up the spike to give to me to show my kids. Yep–that’s why there is a huge torn unfixable hole in my tire. Next was Garret and Daniel, and then Shinn. (I had called Shinn and Garrett , good friends of mine, for help.)
Needless to say, it was quite humorous watching 4 men trying to figure out how best to find the spare and get it on. Finally found the spare right behind the front seats. A donut with no air. So off coach goes to air up the donut, while the other guys work on getting the tire off.
In no time at all, my tire was replaced and I was getting lectures from each of them about driving slowly and getting the thing fixed tomorrow.
So what does this have to do with Straightening out the curves? Nothing really, it’s just an anecdote from my day. But here is the key thing I learned this afternoon driving home the “back way”. Proverbs 3:6 states: 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Wow, what a verse…..in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Just like the simple task of straightening out the curves while driving (only when it is safe to do so), our paths will be made straight in our lives, if we acknowledge God in all His ways.
What does that mean, to acknowledge God in all your ways? I think it must mean, to a degree, that we should cultivate an awareness of God with us throughout the day, and acknowledge that presence. It doesn’t say “Do your personal prayer time”, or “plant a new church” or “be more evangelistic”—though all those things may be things you are called to and in those things you might sense God the most. But the scriptures says in all your ways. In ALL of my ways acknowledge Him.
I want a straight path. I want to acknowledge Him in all of my ways–parenting, church, work. Especially the temptations that work provides. But more than all of these “good” things to do–I long to acknowledge God as God–apart from anything else.
God is God and to acknowledge Him is to worship Him.