“If I had just looked a split-second longer!” That is what I said to Barbara as I related how I backed into the path of an on-coming vehicle. At this location, I normally park in the parking lot beside the building, the reason being so I can pull out in the street going forward. This morning, I chose to park in an angular parking space along the street. When I got in the car to back out, I looked over my right shoulder down the street for any on-coming traffic, and with none in view, I proceeded to back out. Boom! In that moment, as it occurred, I thought, “I’m being hit by a car. I can’t believe this is happening! But it is! I’ve backed out in front of a car!” Well, I pulled back up into the parking space and shut the engine off and jumped out to check on the other driver. He was opening the door as I approached the vehicle, and I asked him if he was okay. He said he was shaken up. I apologized that I did not see him, explaining to him that I looked down the street, and apparently at the very instant he was in my blind spot. A 2008 Forerunner has about a foot wide roof support at the middle side window and about an eight- or ten-inch roof support on the right rear corner. At the instant I looked, the low-riding little car was hidden behind one of those supports or behind the sidewall of my car itself. The crash was a total surprise. I came away from the incident with a very practical lesson for me and for all. Jesus said to watch and pray lest you fall into temptation (“experience of evil, adversity”—Mark 14:38). He did not say to glance and pray. To watch is to hold a gaze on the situation and check it out thoroughly to make sure of what is going on. It is to really pay attention. In eternal spiritual matters, we don’t need to just give it a good religious glance then do our thing. We need to consider if we might have any “blind spots” in our life, so that things might not really be as they seem. Blind spots can cause unexpected crashes. We need to hold our gaze on our life in the light of the Word of God to see where we really stand with God. A religious blind spot of believing in God and Jesus Christ without having love and devotion to God and love toward our neighbor is a killer. If we have no love for the Word of God, we might be looking down life’s road without seeing the on-coming traffic. Sometimes we make bad choices, we follow the flesh, and we mess up. Sometimes we position ourselves to get blind-sided. We don’t stop driving just because we have an accident. Keep learning, repenting, making changes, and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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