Student Drivers and What They Can Teach Us All

Today I found myself mindlessly cruising down a country road right up onto the bumper of a student driver. This student driver was driving very cautious, and slow. It was a beautiful day for mindlessly cruising, and this is pretty much how I drive every day. Some days I look around and I'm like, "How did I get here?" or worse yet, "Where am I?" It's always as adventure!

I'm thankful for cautious drivers-- the world needs more of them, and slow drivers too! When I find myself behind a slow driver I tend to get fewer speeding tickets. Seriously, slow drivers are life savers in so many ways!

Back to today though... As soon as I saw the words STUDENT DRIVER plastered across the back of the vehicle, I backed off and left that driver (God bless their heart) plenty of room. I remember being that student driver!

I watched from a distance as he, or she, navigated the country road, slowly. Their vehicle meandering from the right side of the lane to the center of the road and back again, over and over. I remember how hard it was when I started driving, trying to keep the car in the center of the lane. I remember way back then thinking, "How do people do this?" That was a lifetime ago.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." II Corinthians 5:17

We drove on down the country road together and I thought to myself, "Student Driver. Student Christian." Being a student driver, or a new driver, is in so many ways like being a new Christian. Everything is new, and you're wondering, "How do people do this?"

Do you remember being a new Christian, being a new creature in Jesus Christ? You may remember trying to keep your spiritual vehicle between the lines. Maybe you made a few mistakes, maybe you even totaled your spiritual ride. 

GRACE! Isn't it nice to know that Jesus gives us grace for the mess ups, for the mess we make of this life? Grace upon grace upon grace! He never tires of seeing His children running back to Him in need of more grace!

If that thought has ever crossed your mind, this thought is going to absolutely blow your mind! We are to GIVE that same kind of grace! We can't expect to just be grace receivers. We have to be grace givers as well. WHAT? 

Yes! We should be receivers of grace, but even more important than that, we are to give grace to others. To those new Christian drivers on the road of life around us we should give grace. 

No one becomes a Christian and is changed overnight. Change takes time, and lots of grace. It takes God's Word to strengthen our relationship with Him. It takes prayer. It takes the love and guidance of established Christian brothers and sisters. It takes grace! 

So next time you see a student Christian driver on the road of life, remind yourself and be thankful for the grace given to you. And then pass that grace on!