Roll The Windows Down

It was a roll your windows down kind of day.
Beautiful weather…low humidity…light breeze.
The kind of day when your music sounds a bit better as you drive down the road.
But then, so does everyone else’s!

I never think much about the self-contained world we have in our cars.
We have tissues and hand wipes and umbrellas.
We have a beach chair, a blanket, and an extra sweatshirt.

We have a book, in case we have extra waiting time somewhere.
We have remnants of lunch, especially if there were children in the car.
We have action figures that somehow roll under the seat.
We find a crayon that has been stepped on; a shopping list that we forgot about.

We have our music.
Whatever suits our fancy that particular day.
We might even listen to audiobooks, or sermons.
Our own little world!

When it is a beautiful day, our world will meet someone else’s world at a red light.
We may hear rap music with its pounding bass.
We may hear country, or pop, or something unrecognizable.
For that minute, as we wait, two worlds blend together in a cacophony of sound.

Indistinguishable…unless we purposefully listen.

I had the privilege of being the county coordinator for the National Day of Prayer.
The first Thursday of May is set aside so we can come together to pray for our nation.
Churches across the country gather and lift up their requests to the Father.
Prayer times are held in homes, in parks, on mountaintops…on courthouse steps.

The courthouse is where our event was held each year.
What a blessing it was to be there.
Pastors from all over the county came to the podium to lead us in prayer.
Live worship music reverberated through the intersection.

For the afternoon, the Body of Christ was visible.
For the afternoon, we got a glimpse of what it could be…what it was meant to be.

I loved being behind the scenes and watching the faces of the people.
Multi-generational worship from the youngest infant to the oldest citizen.

The corner, where our courthouse is located, is in the center of town.
There is a four-way traffic light there.
I watched as cars approached the corner and the light turned red.

Drivers put their windows down and turned down their music.
No one asked them to do that.
They seemed to intuitively lower the volume out of respect.
They were listening.

Until the light turned green, they heard prayers being lifted up to the Father.
They heard worship music.
For those brief moments, two worlds blended together.

God doesn’t waste anything!
Even in those moments, hearts were touched.
God made sure of that!

As I looked across the street at the brick buildings, I saw that windows were opened.
People were participating from the upstairs windows.
For the two hours that we were on the courthouse steps, many people heard.
God made sure of that!

Even the hot dog vendor, who used that corner as his lunch spot each day, moved around the corner so as not to get in the way of the pastors and musicians.
No one asked him to do that!
The hot dog vendor heard as well.
God made sure of that!

Worlds blend together every day…often unnoticed.
We never imagine that the worship song playing in our car may be just the thing God uses to capture the heart of another person as they sit at a red light.
We never think that simply going about our daily lives is a testimony to the God we serve.

People are watching.
God makes sure of that!
They see us…as we point to Him.
We point to Him even when we don’t know we’re doing it!
THAT is the best kind of pointing!

Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters, give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and your doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:11-16)

Who is within earshot?
Who is watching your life and your doctrine closely?

In a Sovereign moment, two worlds blend together.

Point others to Christ…intentionally or unintentionally.
Roll those windows down!