Living in Carlisle Pennsylvania means there are certain things that you must deal with on a regular basis. But I suppose that most places have the same issues only in greater or lesser degrees. Now if you are a car buff and know anything about car shows then you are probably familiar with the name of Carlisle. We have car shows of every sort here between April and October that occur every two weeks. They start coming in around Wednesday and stick around till Sunday. These car shows bring in people from all over the country. Some are more attended than others but they all bring one thing with them. More traffic! And when you have more traffic, you have a rise in the number of drivers who are rude and some that are downright ignorant which can lead to a lot of problems for some. These drivers cut others off, run lights or even fail to stop at stop signs because they are in a hurry. Needless to say sometimes tempers can flare rather easliy. I know all to well what happens when a driver behaves in any of the aformentioned behaviours. I was trying to get across town during one show weekend and a driver from out of state cut me off and almost caused me to wreck. I was not too happy about it and I started to get upset. Suffice to say my thought life at that moment was not very Christlike.

I began to feel gulity about how I was feeling and what I would love to see happen to that driver. Once again the Holy Spirit was there convicting me for those thoughts I was having. He began instead to remind me that Christ died for that driver and not just for me or only the considerate folks. He reminded me that God loves each and every person the same. I was looking at these folks as a nusaince that come to Carlisle a couple of times a year. The Spirit gently wanted me to know that instead of looking at them as a nusiance I needed to see them as an opportunity to minister to them and to pray for them. He asked me how could I reach these folks for Christ and touch them with the love of God. Many times we have opportunities to reach people for Christ but we blow it and fail to take the opportunities when they are there. I realized that I needed to change my thinking and see them from God's perspective. I need to start welcoming the people and plan ways to share God's love with them.

God also reminded me that there have been times when I was not the most considerate driver myself so I need to be careful when I want to throw stones. Instead of getting mad, I need to pray!