https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/12/hows-my-driving
I think some of us become ‘transformed’ persons when driving, and I myself am no exception. Changed, but not in a good way! While in day to day life, I’m less confrontational and usually conciliatory, I can be fairly aggressive when driving. For example, I hate queue cutters. Sometimes, if at all possible, I will not let them pass. My wife will nearly always say, “it’s OK, let them pass – maybe they made a mistake and were not intentional.” I, for one, believe 9/10 of them had evil intentions! Or if someone suddenly cuts into my lane without signalling, it can give me a shock, and I will honked at them, not loudly – usually just to tell them off but if it was a dangerous manoeuvre I can blast my horn at them for driving so dangerously. Another are the road hoggers who do 80 km/h on the fast lane of the highway, causing a long queue or those who drive on the emergency lane. There is nothing much we can do about such irresponsible people, but it still gets to me sometimes. There is, therefore, a gap between our actions and our convictions when some of us drive, and that includes me, and it’s not a good testimony of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
In James 1:19-20, James advised that we should be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry as human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. The background to that verse is actually about the disparity between the rich and poor; that is, the anger of the poor will not bring about righteousness (better translated to justice in the context). It is true because our anger against any ill-treatment by the government or our employer organisation will not bring justice. We only hurt ourselves when we get angry as we will harbour retaliatory actions or vengeful thoughts, all of which are useless against entities much larger than ourselves. True justice can only be achieved by God, in His time, and whether in this world or thereafter. It’s better to commit such matters to God, or else we will be like taking poison hoping our adversaries will suffer the consequences. The idiom says revenge is a dish best served cold, but as believers, our God is our vengeance, and justice will prevail one day through Him!
Driving is actually a good way to test our righteousness in God as my wife always reminds me. If we are more forgiving and more patient on the road, we will truly become a better person in real life, a better child in God, a better servant of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ronnie's Thoughts 