I found an “Oldies Station” while on a business trip in Indiana about 35 years ago. It came out of Indianapolis, and I was singing along with the Beach Boys in one of their signature songs. I turned up the volume, and inadvertently was pushing the gas pedal down proportionally with the volume pumped out of the car radio. Being on State Highway 44 in the rural countryside, I was reminiscing about the days gone by when that song was first broadcast. A little rise in the road was ahead and thought little of it until a county police cruiser topped the little rise coming in the opposite direction. As we passed, I automatically looked at my speedometer, and it read 70 in a 55 zone. I immediately looked at the cruiser in the rear view mirror and his brake lights immediately came on. I wonder why???

What did I do?

Knowing it wouldn’t take long for the officer to slow down and stop, turn around, and proceed to chase me; I did the reasonable thing – turn off State Highway 44 on to a side road and wait for the cruiser to write me a ticket. After all, I was guilty of violating a law, a speed limit restriction deemed fair and safe for all travelers. I waited for the proverbial hammer to come down on me when he got there. He came to the road where I had turned off, and he pulled in behind me with his lights flashing.

He got out and asked why I pulled over before he got there. I already had my drivers license and paperwork out and I told him, “I knew I was speeding at that exact moment, and was guilty, and pulled over to face my punishment.” But I asked him NOT to ask why I was speeding. It would be too embarrassing.  The exchange went on for just a few moments and he asked again, but this time he did it with a smile. I shook my head as I told him I had just found that oldies station, and was so into that Beach Boys song, I didn’t realize my foot got heavy. The officer told me that was his favorite song, and let me go with a warning. He listened to that station all the time. So I received grace at the hands of a human that day. But I have been careful from then on.

But the lesson here becomes not what was in the rear view mirror; like memories, a favorite song, or blue lights. It is in the past. The stopping of my vehicle was the result of what I had done in the past.

I can’t be pulled over for speeding because of what I am going to do on Interstate 75 in May 2019. I can’t have a favorite song that hasn’t come out yet. But the important thing to know, to grasp, and to embrace is that our Lord Jesus is already IN the future. He holds His hand out and leads us in our thought lives, or daily behaviors, and our very existence. When we realize He actually leads us in our walk into the future, we will be a more powerful instrument in His hands!

Nehemiah 9:12 – “Moreover, You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the road Which they should travel.”

Proverbs 4:11– “I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths.”

Although our past decisions and actions will have a bearing on where we go from now, but it is much better to be pulled along, rather than being pulled over.

“Lord, thank You for providing a path of righteousness, of challenge, of faith, and of grace as You lead me along into the future. Bless my attempts at sharing the Gospel, and warn me when there are dangerous elements ahead. Thank You SO much!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”