Too Close For Comfort

Our family has been cleaning, purging and reorganizing around the house for some time now. The stuff in our garage is constantly shifting around as a result. And each time it changes, I have to relearn how to maneuver my large SUV in and out of my designated spot in the garage. This, for a woman with horrible depth perception and peripheral vision…oh my.


Picture me backing out of my space with EXTREME caution so that I don’t scrape up the entire right side of my vehicle, or hit the fence, or the trash can (again). What this means is that I go in reverse, stop and look, pull forward some to get further away from the wall, then reverse again. Admittedly, sometimes it takes me several backs and forwards. Try not to laugh. It will hurt my feelings. ;)


So one day not long ago, I was going through my normal brake & gas wasting ritual whilst backing out of the garage, and my teenage son in the passenger’s seat interrupted. “Mom, go ahead. You can make it.”


“No, Austin, it’s gonna hit.”


“You’re not going to hit, Mom…go.”


I took my foot off the brake for a nano-second, until my reflexes jerked it back to its comfortable place. “It’s going to hit.”


(frustrated sigh) "Mom. I’ve got the better view. It’s not going to hit. You’ve got like an inch. Go.”


I lifted my heavy foot from the brake again. I shut my eyes and let the car drift backwards, knowing full well it was going to scraaaape. And when it does, guess whose bank account the damages are coming out of? I thought.


“See? I told you, Mom.”


I squinted open one eye, then the other. I’d made it out free ‘n clear of damage. Wow. Lucky for him. I admitted to Austin that I couldn’t believe the truck didn’t hit the side. I knew for a fact it would…



…to which he lovingly replied, “You should trust me, Mom. I told you, I’ve got the better view. ALWAYS trust the person with the better view.”


Yes, he really said that. And the Lord has echoed that incredible piece of advice from my son over and over since that day. Not only when it comes to backing out of the garage, but also with life’s circumstances.

“Trust me. I’ve got the better view,” my Lord says.
And He does.

When God says, “I KNOW the plans I have for you, plans for a hope and a future,” we can believe Him. When He says to trust Him and “lean not on your own understanding,” we can depend on Him.

Isaiah 48:17b says,
“I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”


&

Isaiah 55:9,
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”


In other words. Trust Him, He has the better view. His depth perception and peripheral vision are absolutely perfect. But this is where the garage analogy ends. Though His plan is never to harm us, sometimes His way involves pain. It’s painful because we live in a world that doesn’t make it easy to do things God’s way, and it’s painful because this world is not our home. Jesus knew this full well:


"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done."
Luke 22:42


Jesus didn’t want to bear the pain of the cross, but He was willing because He trusted in the will of the Father. He suffered horribly as a result, the worst of the worst, but now look at Him. Now He has the best view of all.


Wouldn’t we, my friends, do best to keep this in mind? Can we encourage one another to trust and obey the One who fully knows? As we “walk by faith and not by sight,” our hearts will experience peace that doesn’t make sense to the rest of the world (or even to our futile minds). We’ll rest in the fact that “now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Cor. 13:12)


Trust Him today, even when the way is too close for your comfort. I’ll say it again just in case your reflexes demand your foot hit the brake. Go. Trust His direction. Always trust the One who holds the perfect view.

Lord, not our will, but Yours be done. Give us the faith to follow Your lead today.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Selah~ Pause. Ponder. Praise.