Driving in the major thoroughfares of Metro Manila can always be tough for any driver.
Just Sunday night, while my wife and daughter were on our way home from Victory U-Belt, a speeding dark-gray Toyota Inova, without making any signal, suddenly swerved towards the right lane, where the car I was driving was located (this happened along Nagtahan, below the fly-over in Sta. Mesa).
We were just a few inches from hitting the gray-colored Inova, but the great thing was I was able to immediately slam on the brake, or else, we could have smashed through the back-portion of the SUV.
I felt I could have done a Manny Pacquiao at that point–peppering the driver with a barrage of jabs–considering that my wife and my daughter’s life was placed in jeopardy at that moment.
But as I started accelerating the gas pedal again, I just felt the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to me—to calm down and immediately forgive the driver.
I was trying to bargain with the Lord by just rolling down the car window and just give that driver my piece of mind.
But in a few seconds, I made a decision to let the Inova in front of me go ahead while I slow down.
It was hard to accept, but at that point, I started praying on my own and release forgiveness to that driver. I also knew at that point that anger management isn’t the solution but only a heart that yields to God.
This morning, I was reading a chapter of Stormie Omartian’s book Praying God’s Will For Your Life, and I came across a statement that caught my attention–…the more we allow God to reign in us, the easier it will be to let go of anything that exalts itself above Him.
Then, I remembered last night’s near car accident.
If I didn’t let God reign over my thoughts at that point, I could have done something rash or stupid.
Ephesians 4:22-24 says, 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Love these verses because these remind me of who I am now in God’s eyes.
Each day, I am to put on a new attitude and a new self because the newness I have come from God alone.
We all get pissed off sometimes and tend to find our self-control from the inside tremendously challenged.
But each time we get into that point of “exploding from the inside”, just remember, that God has given us a new attitude and a new self.
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