There is a song by Taylor Swift that has had a deep impact on my personally. In the song The Best Day, we find a young woman looking back at her life with her mother, through its ups and downs. There is a line that reads “I know you were on my side even when I was wrong.” So simple and yet so profound, especially with the love of God.
Its hard to believe, but almost ten years ago I was attending a ministry conference when at a red light, the car next to me hit my back drivers side panel. I was about 800 miles from home in another state, and the car that struck me was a rental car. But the driver was not the one who rented the car. A single mother with small children had lent it to a friend to go to the store. Turns out, the rental agency would not cover the repair because it was not in contract with the driver. Her auto insurance would not cover the repair as she was not driving the vehicle. And he (the driver) had no insurance. And I found out I did not have coverage for uninsured drivers on my policy at that time (which I quickly rectified after the fact). The police were advising me to press charges. As I was only in town for the week, that would involve me taking time off and spending considerable time in that state. The mother said she could scrape together 300 towards the repair (the actual damage was about $600). And then I remembered the following verse:
- 1 Corinthians 6:7 NASB – 7 Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?
Upon further reflection I realized how much God had blessed me with the ability to take a week off work, travel, and sightsee. The money was not an issue for me. But here was a single mother with small children caught in the middle. Here I was at a conference discussing what it means to reflect Jesus and all of sudden finding myself in the middle of a legal quagmire. So I called her up the last day of the conference and told her to be at peace, I have more than enough to get the car fixed myself. Though I appreciated the offer, it would be ok. And I would not be pressing charges against her friend. She was stunned into silence with tears by my words. I told her to spend the money on the needs of her family.
But here is the rest of the story. Later that day I was backing out of a parking space and did not see a car approaching me. I backed into the front of someone else’s car. The lady then gets out of her car looks at both vehicles as I am prepared to exchange insurance information. But she responds, I can’t see any damage to either vehicle. Don’t worry about and she drove off. I was reminded of another verse:
- Matthew 5:7 NASB – 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
I truly believe that God was in the process of teaching me “why not rather be wronged” is to “receive mercy.”
The last two days I have been wronged on two very personal fronts. I must admit, it hurts. But I chose to let both issues go. The unspoken theology is that doing God’s will never hurts. It very much does so at times. Every fiber of my being wants to shout out look what happened to me, I am in the right! And then I remember all the grace and mercy God has poured out on me even when I was wrong. Someone once said “mercy is not getting what you deserve, and grace is getting what you do not deserve.”
I must when I am wronged, I feel like a little child running to the arms of the Father. It is at these times I realize that I can not fix something and just how little control we do have over our circumstances at times. I do not know how my two wrongs will play out. But I want the mercy of God to be poured forth. I want to be able to look back at this moment with my heavenly father and exclaim like the last line in the Taylor Swift song “That I had the best day, with you, today.”
And as always, love much my friends . . .
Unspoken Theology 