He really could have blown right past me. I knew it. He knew it. And more importantly, he knew that I knew he knew it. He just smiled and continued traveling 60 mph as I barrelled past him moving a bit faster. I was driving my red Saturn SL1. He was in a white corvette. I thought to myself, "what a cool car!"My father in law has a yellow corvette and one day we went for a ride. When he hit the gas, we moved. There was no hesitation, no thinking about it. Nothing. The car just went. High performance, get the job done acceleration. Remember the road runner cartoons? Think yellow streak! But that was some thing special he did just to show me the power of the car. He doesn't drive around town that way... I don't think. Anyway, it was an awesome experience.
So as I flew by the guy in the white corvette, I knew why he was smiling. I was only passing him because he was allowing me to. At any moment he could have floored it and left me choking in his dust. But instead, he was the perfect portrait of power under submission. He was not intimidated and had nothing to prove. He knew the power he possesed and he knew the purpose of that power. And it wasn't for wiping up the floor with little red Saturn drivers.
And suddenly, I thought about Jesus and the pharisees. They kept saying, "come on man! Prove yourself. Show us Your power and we'll believe You." But Jesus knew better. He knew that even if he raised himself from the dead, most people wouldn't believe Him. They would just try to explain it away. He was like a corvette in a world of Saturns. Nothing to prove... Power with purpose under submission to authority.
"Is that a picture of me?" I asked myself. Or are most of us unfocused pictures of unrestrained power serving no purpose at all; just burning ourselves out. Or maybe, instead of choosing a destination, we're trying to go in every direction all at once. Paul said he worked at being all things to all men... but I don't think he meant all the time at the same time every day. Maybe we need to learn to say, no. I've got nothing to prove here. And I won't be intimidated into useless battles or challenges for the sake of ego or pride. The corvette guy said no. He smiled. And waved... It was almost as if he said, "man what a cool little red Saturn." ... or maybe I need more sleep...
