My Peter Moment #fail

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash

We’ve experienced a week of showers in North Carolina. I think we are all #overit, but nevertheless many like myself have continued to go about the business of our lives, rain boots and all. I had to leave home for an appointment, so I invited Mom and Stella for a ride. It was raining heavy and the roadway was slick as well as flooded. Cars were hovering close together, driving with hazards enabled following the southern ritual. While the conditions were not favorable, driving was doable with caution. From a distance, I noticed a truck driving extremely fast in my rear. As I saw them approaching at an alarming rate through my rearview mirror, I became frightened because I knew they were going to hit us. In the moment of my distress, since I was not available to move to my right or left, I spoke aloud what immediately came to my mind and subsequently, my lips. I uttered, “Shit, Shit Shit!” In an instant, the truck swerved to my left and missed sending me, my Mom and Stella into Glory. After my Peter moment, I thanked God for saving us!

As my heart returned to some normalcy that my Fitbit could appreciate, I began to reflect upon the experience. I was certainly grateful but then grief began to settle in. In my moment of trauma when I needed God the most, I failed to call upon Him and instead resorted to a staple, that quite honestly I use as a blanket for many circumstances. Stub my toe on the leg of the couch; forget to cancel a reservation and incur a penalty; someone else reach a parking space before me - all the same response as my distress signal. My “Shitty” response is universal. Therefore it is perhaps not surprising that I would offer my atypical statement, but I wasn’t in an atypical experience. In a moment of life or death, what’s in your mouth? Disappointingly for myself, it wasn’t Jesus.

Since I was a child, I’ve been conditioned to practice Romans 10:13 which reads, “For everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” I want Jesus to be my first thought and not my after thought. I have too much history to call anyone or anything else. In every situation, He’s yet to fail me. And yet, God always extends grace and it’s available to us. Even in the situation with the truck we were saved even when beckoning for His intervention wasn’t my go-to.

I’m not saying that I’m totally giving up my “go-to” but I am committing to infusing more of Jesus and less of the chosen alternative. Because something happens when we call the Name of Jesus. It’s utility will not go in vain.