Judging Crooked Lines

It was grocery shopping day.
I knew what I would be doing for the next hour and a half.
I don’t mind; it has been my weekly routine for years.
It is not the choosing that is tedious but rather the bagging and the putting away.

I was at an intersection where both the left and right lanes can turn left.
I was in the right lane and another minivan was in the left.
The light turned green and we each started to go.

The thing about two lane intersections is that you need to stay in your lane as you turn.
The woman next to me started to come over into my lane on the turn.
I dislike using my car horn, but this time it was warranted.

She quickly jolted over to her lane again.
She was on her cell phone and put her one free hand up in the air as if to say, sorry.
She darted in front of the car ahead of me so that she could turn into another lot.

It was too beautiful a day to get annoyed.
I was just so thankful that God protected me.

I reached the grocery store parking lot.
I let the people walking with their carts cross in front of me.
I pulled into the only available parking space I found with my cursory glance.

As I began to turn in, there was a young mom getting her child into a car seat.
I smiled, turned carefully into the space, and cautiously parked my car.
I grabbed a shopping cart and entered the store.

After paying at the cash register, I left the store and pushed the cart to my car.
I looked at my horrible parking job.
My car was crooked and close to the white line on the passenger’s side.

Then I remembered, the young mom and the child and the car seat.
I park better than this…but that was extenuating circumstances.
I didn’t want to hit her; I needed to give her room.

I justified my terrible park job in my head to no one in particular.
Then it hit me!
You judge other people for the same horrible park job you just did!
I couldn’t argue with that.

How many times have I jumped to conclusions and come up with a perfect scenario?
I have it all figured out; why the other person did what they did.
I cut them down to size in my mind.
It is wrong!

I knew the reason I parked so crookedly in the parking space.
Who passed my car and judged me like I have judged them in my mind?

Convicted!
Guilty!

Oh it doesn’t matter; you never said anything to the person.
It does matter.
Everyone has a story; everyone has a reason.

I do not have the whole picture like God does.
I cannot judge based on my limited view.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye. How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)

I had a conversation with God on the way home concerning my lack of grace.
I am certain that He lovingly smiled at me that Knowing Smile.
Forgiving me; always loving me; always extending grace.

Grace is not just what we extend to others overtly.
Grace is also what we extend to others covertly; in our hearts and in our minds.

That is where the rubber meets the road.
It is easy to appear as if we extend grace every time we turn around.
But in our heads, in the solitude of our hearts, the picture may be vastly different.

Isn’t God good to show us where we fall short?
Isn’t He full of grace to give us a picture so we can connect the dots through His Spirit?
He could have yelled through a megaphone, See that?
How many times have you been annoyed in your heart, for the same thing you just did?

Too many to count!
I was humbled by my crooked parking job.

My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.
(1 Corinthians 4:4,5)

I am glad I parked my car so crookedly today.