Driving down the road last night a white truck insisted on pressing his nose on the back end of my car. There was plenty of road, yet he wanted the lane that I was in. With an eye roll I moved over. As he sped past me I noticed he had an air conditioning unit in the bed of his truck. Not only was the unit in his truck, but it did not appear to be strapped down. I spoke out loud “You better slow down or that is going to fall out of your truck, you jerk. Irresponsible.”
attitude check
There she was. Judgy little Destrea made her appearance. The white truck passed me up a good ways. I began to calm myself down and got back to my cheesy Christian tunes. I have been trying to work on my attitude on the road. Not 5 minutes later I saw a puff of smoke up ahead along with the brake lights of a car in front of me. Slowing down I noticed there was an air conditioning unit rolling across US-59.
This would have been the time when I would have expected myself to laugh. He was pretty much asking for it, right? It’s common sense. To my surprise, that was not my reaction. I became sad. I was not sad for the air conditioner. I was not sad that I had to slow down. I was not sad that someone was going to be really hot the next day. I was sad for the man driving the white truck.
caring for a stranger
Where did that come from? Am I just being emotional? That’s possible. I tend to be pretty emotional sometimes. However, I don’t think that is the case here. Lately I have been pondering about four words that came to my mind one evening: Caring for A Stranger. People are in pain. People are lost. I remember some of my own devastating moments. The memory of my pain is unforgettable. I felt isolated from everyone by my personal suffering. The thing is, at some point, everyone has that unbearable moment of their own lives. Everyone has a need.
We sing songs that have lines like “break my heart for what breaks Yours”. We read books with the title of A Man/Woman After God’s Own Heart. In our prayers we pray to be more like Christ. Do we really know what this means? Do we really know what we are wanting here? Do we know the extent of being more like God? Every Christian I know will tell you that God is love. A simple concept, right? Wrong.
Compassion. Grace. Forgiveness. Mercy. These things are all wrapped up in love. When I look back at how I treated God, I know that I do not deserve Him. It is made apparent to me that Jesus never should have died for me. God has been my backup plan, my genie, and the blame for everything negative in my life. If I am honest, then I can tell you that there were times I definitely did not love God. He was not important to me. I was important to me. Yet, He still loved me. He opened His arms to me when I came to Him. My whole life changed. Jesus took my punishment, so that I could freely and easily have a relationship with my Lord.
I was sad for the man in the white truck. I don’t imagine that he set out with a goal of throwing the air conditioning unit off of his truck. As I watched him slow down and move towards the exit it appeared that he knew his mistake. No, he probably wasn’t thinking about me at all. He will more than likely never care that he was inconsiderate of me on the highway that night. Still, he has my sympathy. There are consequences for actions, but we should never rejoice at the negative consequences. That isn’t love. Now, let’s go a little deeper.
love people
Pay attention. You’re a Christian. It is your job to care. There is more to your list of duties than just going to church and reading your Bible. Those things are important, don’t get me wrong. But do you know what is more important? People. People are important. Every person is important. The woman who cheats on her husband is important. The man who abuses is important. Child molesters are important. Jesus died for them, too. Or did you forget that? Maybe I am taking a huge risk at being ridiculed for this, but this is important. Love people. All people.
There are two things I want you to get from this. The first thing is that it is time for you to step out of your comfort zone. If a stranger drops their books, then, oh my word, HELP THEM PICK THEM UP! If you and another car are equal distance from a parking spot, then give it to them. If a stranger is crying ask if you can help or if you can at least pray for them. The worst they can say is no. “But, Destrea, they may think I am weird for asking to pray for them.” Again, YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN! YOU’RE SUPPOSE TO PRAY!
The second thing I want you to get from this is that you do not get to choose who deserves love and who doesn’t. The reason for that is because you don’t even deserve love. Get over yourself. Get out of the world’s mindset. Let go of your own personal hurts. We have a much bigger mission. God has a heart for people. He wants us to love people. You don’t have to like everyone, but you do have to love them.