7 am came early on this cold, rainy morning. As I quietly slipped out the door for work, it was still dark outside and there was a thin sheet of ice that covered my windshield. As I sat shivering and waiting for my car to warm up, I remembered the sermon I watched last night on finding my identity in Christ. As I drove off I began to pray, thanking God for a new day, new mercies, and for new opportunities to find myself in Christ. At one point in my conversation with the Lord, I asked Him to enable me to have a more eternal perspective on life. To see beyond the chaos and the tragedies of the world we live in, and to look to the future with great anticipation of all that He will do. I thanked Him for the hope I have in Christ and the assurance of knowing that one day He will make right all that is wrong, and fix all that’s been broken.

And just as those words escaped my lips, the vehicle in front of me on the highway came to a sudden halt. My stop however was not quite so prompt, and I came to a screeching slam, right into the back of the preceding car. Suddenly I found myself shaken, frozen with fear and unable to move. When I gained the courage to get out and assess the damage, I was shocked to find not a scuff, scratch or dent on the car in front me. My car however, was not quite so fortunate and has sustained quite a bit of damage. And by “quite a bit,” I mean a lot. And let me just say it was quite a blow to see my shiny, 3 month old car smashed to smithereens on the side of the road.

I’ve tried several times today to understand what lesson the Lord is trying to teach me through this accident. Maybe it’s to make me a more cautious driver. Maybe it’s to humble this excellent driver’s proud heart. I’m still not quite sure what the answer is, but this I know: my identity is far too wrapped up in earthly possessions. I invest more in worldly treasures than I do in the lives and hearts of others. And though the disappointment of the day hasn’t quite subsided, I’m grateful for the much needed wake up call and strange, yet providential answer to prayer. And I cling to the promise that for those who love God, “all things work together for good.”

Tonight I’m reminded of the way our Master Mechanic takes bunches of broken pieces and slowly but surely turns them into something beautiful. He’s working on me, too.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 “Greater is the end of a thing than it’s beginning.”

I’m grateful that I’m not my worst day, and that I am not now all I will be.