A green light . . . from God?

When God answers in a quirky way only He can

For whatever reason, while I can only remember two or three flat tires in my own car over more than 40 years of driving. But . . . I’ve had six flats in rental cars in the last five or six years.

I promise I don’t drive over nail beds. Two of them I noticed within minutes of picking up a car at the airport. It’s just happened too often.

Forgive me then, for wondering if a rental car company has checked the tires before I take off down the road in a far-off state. And when that little horseshoe light pops on when I first turn the ignition on a rental, I hop out and find another one. Sure, it may be that one tire is only a pound low on air, but I’m taking no chances.

Which means for me at least, travel sometimes brings anxiety. Not a ton of it, but some.

The good news is, I talk to God a lot when traveling. Maybe this is  why He allows stress in my car rentals—it builds communication.

A prayer of (little) faith

I was stressed recently on a trip through Pennsylvania. No good reason. My dashboard was not giving me the horseshoe light of “check your low tires(!)”, the weather was great from Pittsburgh to State College. But something—I still don’t remember what—was wearing on me.

At some point as I journeyed through a township outside of Pittsburgh on my route to Penn State’s campus, I got in a conversation with God. “I just need to know you are here,” I said. “Just . . . something.”

Of course, I had to qualify my prayer. I know God is with me. At this point in my life, to doubt this is laughable. He has walked me through valleys, over peaks, through the storms and into joy. Even saying this made me feel guilty. Who am I to ask God to prove anything to me?

I told Him all this, too. “I’m sorry,” I added. “You don’t owe me a thing.” And He doesn’t. He never will.

“But,” I threw in. “I just need something today. I don’t even know what.”

Was I asking for a sign? Maybe. Or perhaps, I just wanted a dose of confirmation that God—the BIG GUY—would remind me again that He is a Father who throws His arm around my shoulders and says, “I’ve got your back. Always.”

Like I said, I know this is true. But sometimes . . .

I drove on, listening to my GPS lady tell me to stay on the same road for the next gazillion miles.

An answer in lights . . .

Then I saw the traffic lights. A lot of them. Every quarter of a mile or so, another light. This trip could become a start and stop marathon. I wasn’t in a super rush, but stoppity-start for ten miles or so would cut me close on time for a meeting. Ugh.

I could feel the stress begin to rise. Maybe God was about to test me, the guy who likes to be early to meetings.

I came up on the first light. Green. Fair enough. I kept driving.

Another light. Green. And another. Green. Then, green again, and again, and again, and again.

I don’t know what the odds are on lights over this stretch of road in Pennsylvania. But I do know I would look ahead and see a red light, which would suddenly turn green by the time I got there. If I started to slow for the line of cars waiting at a red, just as I began to stop, green again.

This didn’t happen four or five times. It was more like fourteen or fifteen. Fact is, I lost count.

Green after green after green after green. Smooth sailing for miles and miles.

Maybe this was coincidence. Perhaps this stretch of road has the perfect algorithm or whatever for lights. But I do know this—a ton of other cars had to stop. But not me. Not ever.

Finally, I started laughing. In my mind I could see God up in heaven, elbowing Jesus as they both had a chuckle at my expense.

“Okay, I get it,” I said. “I needed that.”

My prayer, for whatever it was worth, was answered. My apologies to the poor schlubs who had to wait on lights while I reveled in God’s favor. But perhaps on this occasion, I needed something as simple and silly as green lights to be reminded that indeed, God is looking out for me.

I don’t recall praying a prayer like this before. And I promise you I’m not going to do this regularly going forward. In fact, if I made this a habit, I expect God would look down and say, “No, Kirk. This is not how faith truly grows.” So no, I’m not recommending we wake up each day and shower God with requests to do something special, just for us.

Honestly, as I think back, no doubt I was a bit selfish.

But on this one time on this one day, I believe He answered a guy who was struggling just a bit.

I think we all go through stretches where we need something from God. Sure, He owes us nothing. I get it. Goodness, He offers eternal life to anyone who follows Jesus, isn’t this enough? And even before eternal life, life here has more purpose when we follow Jesus.

But during those times when we need that extra dose of encouragement, I’m proof that He will listen to our prayers.

When we ask, when we do not know to ask

I can’t tell you how He will answer. And He may answer when we don’t even ask.

Like the time when, as a single dad, I was low on money but too tired too cook for my children (this was a long time ago, as you are about to see). I loaded the kids in the car and I drove them to a restaurant, knowing I was about to toss a charge on the credit card which would only make things more difficult.

I didn’t care. I was worn out.

When we got to the restaurant, we all hopped out of the car—and before my feet hit the pavement my daughter exclaimed, “Daddy, look!” Laying in the grass near our car was a $20 bill—just enough to pay for a buffet for all four of us (told you it was a long time ago).

No cars were nearby, no one around. Just that $20 bill. Don’t tell me God doesn’t exist.

God gives us the green light to reach out . . .

Discouraged? Tired? Need that extra boost of faith? Sometimes, maybe it is okay to reach out and ask God to remind us of who He is. And at the right time, He will answer in a quirky way only we can recognize.

I’ve got the green lights to prove it.