Before we get into this, let’s get one thing straight, if you ever see me on the side of the road with my hood up and me staring into that mess of nuts, bolts, and hoses, I can tell you what I’m doing.
Nothing.
I have no idea what’s going on in there. I know enough that if there’s a problem, it’s probably coming from one of those thingamajigs.
That particular inadequacy complicates another problem because it’s tough for me to drive past a stranded motorist on the side of the road. Especially if I can see a mom and make out car seats, I’m going to turn around.
Very often the only thing I can do is offer my cell phone, but on occasion, it’s something simple like a flat tire, and I can get in the dirt and help a little.
I think the reason I’m compelled to stop goes back to the fact that I know what it’s like to sit on the side of the road. In fact, in my graduate school days, I remember pulling over for more than a flat tire.
My car was on fire.
There I stood, next to the inferno, backpack in hand, in awe… my sporty little Geo Metro engulfed in flames, and not a single person in that bumper-to-bumper nightmare on Interstate 20 smack dab in the middle of Fort Worth would pull over, slow down or even give me a pity wave.
It wasn’t till law enforcement saw my plight that I got a ride. You’d think that nothing could cause that day to get worse, but when the officer gives you a ride to class (at seminary) and your classmates and instructors see you being let out of a cop car… let’s say; the day gets worse.
It’s a horrible feeling to be stranded on the side of the road, in a dangerous place and feel like all those whizzing by don’t care.
When you’re in that spot, it doesn’t matter they’re busy. It doesn’t matter they don’t know what to do. Whatever their excuse is, while you’re standing on the side of the road angry, scared, confused, it doesn’t matter.
It’s the same in life. Sometimes our life breaks down and strands us on the side of the road.
Divorce, cancer, depression, unemployment, bankruptcy, betrayal, you name the hurt, we’re all stranded on the side of the road of life at times.
I’m sure God’s people felt the same way as they languished for 400 years as slaves in Egypt, and that’s why a small passing paragraph in the book of Exodus mean so much to me.
“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew,” from Exodus 2:23-25.
They were hurting, and in those days all they could do was groan and cry out for help.
But their cries, “Came up to God.”
And it quite clearly says God heard, remembered, saw, and God knew!
The same is true today. You may be broken down on the side of the road for any number of reasons. And it makes no sense why no one seems to stop and help. But, never forget, that when we cry out to our God, those prayers make it to Him.
He hears, He remembers, He sees, He knows.