What's happening in your blind spot?

“He must be having a bad day.”

These were the words I said to Mike as a man in a car passed us on the highway waving wildly at our truck and trailer combination.

“What’s his problem? We weren’t doing anything wrong!”

The man had waved wildly as he passed us, pulled over to the side of the highway and continued waving as we drove by him. When we turned left a few minutes later, he was still waving wildly as he passed us. 

A few minutes later, an SUV pulled up beside us on the gravel road we were travelling down, minutes away from our camping destination. With a concerned face, the woman rolled down her window and said, “Your bikes are dragging, hey?” Mike immediately pulled over and we jumped out of the truck to investigate.

As it turned out, the waving man wasn’t having a bad day; we were.

The hitch pin in the bike rack had broken off somewhere on our journey. Since it was on the back of our 30ft trailer, we had no idea as it was completely out of our sight line. Sophie’s brand new to her bike was nowhere to be found and what was left of the remaining three was hardly recognizable.

Mike put the mangled bike remains into the bed of the truck and we returned to the cab full of sobbing children.

“My bike?! Where is it?”

“What happened? What am I going to ride?” 

Our teary children made our hearts ache, wishing somehow we could rewind and do things differently. 

We drove in silence for the remaining minutes, silently wishing we had stopped to ask ourselves why the man was waving wildly rather than assuming he just was an angry driver having a bad day.

What might be happening in your blind spot?

We all have blind spots— things in our lives that are out of our view as we travel through life. We need help keeping an eye on them. If people— spouses, friend or children, the Bible, or the Holy Spirit point out something in our lives— perhaps just we are not aware of, that isn’t in line with the truth, do we listen?

Or do we quickly dismiss it as “not about us, “their problem not mine,” or “just the way it is”? Are you listening?

We don’t often think of our blind spots— out of sight, out of mind the saying goes. But what if they’re costing us something whether or not we are aware of them?

We don’t think of humbly responding to conviction as the way to avoid damage— our bikes dragging down the highway being destroyed by the impact, or worse, irreversible pain to those we love.

The Bible says sin is expensive— more specifically, the wages of sin is death. Whether it’s in full view or hiding in our blind spot, we and those we love are already paying. Are you allowing the Word of God to direct your path and keep you in step with the Spirit? Are you in trusted enough relationships with people you can ask who will speak the truth in love?

This year, the replaced bikes are travelling in the safety of the truck bed.

I am keenly aware that listening could be the difference repaired and ruined, whole and broken, and maybe even life and death.

Today, dare to ask— “Is there anything I cannot see that is hurting you?” 

Ask God. Ask your spouse. Ask your friends. Ask your children. 

And then listen well and respond. Thanks to Jesus everything can be redeemed, but not everything be replaced, redone or rewound.

Let’s humbly listen. ❤️