They Don’t Know the Roads

Growing Daily

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of the tourist season in our area. One last crazy weekend, and the beach district goes from gridlock to ghost town.

I can’t say we’ll miss the traffic. Especially the drivers.

All summer long, the tourists terrorize our roads — making turns that defy logic, stopping when they should go, and sailing right past signs that seem impossible to miss. We locals just roll our eyes.

But really, their mistakes only look foolish because the roads are familiar to us. And familiarity can easily turn into an attitude of superiority.

After 30 years in this area, I know which lane suddenly ends and how that confusing intersection works. Drop me into an unfamiliar town, and I’d make all the same rookie mistakes they do.

Romans 12:3 says, “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves.”

We all face unfamiliar territory, both in everyday life and in our walk with God. There are places where we’re inexperienced, uncertain, or even completely lost. Everyone’s a tourist somewhere. No matter how young or old, we’ll always be travelers who need God’s grace and direction.

Today, let that truth make us slower to criticize someone else’s mistakes and quicker to respond with humility and grace (Titus 3:2).

- Ron Reid