In Reverse

Link to Car Crash video

Have you seen those TV ads that show a car crash in reverse? All of the flying parts are pulled back onto the car as they were before the accident happened. Click on the video link or picture above to see what I mean. It looks like some unseen magnet is pulling the car back together again. I love the appeal of it - we can go back in time, call out "do over!" and the slate is wiped clean.

If only that were possible.

My faith tells me, however, that God will turn everything to our good if we let Him. In that sense, we do get a second chance with our mistakes. It is not like starting over, but the outcome can be productive even if we have to endure some trials in the process.

We might think that some circumstances are beyond fixing, but one miracle is just as easy for God as another. Jesus pointed this out when he confronted the Pharisees: "Which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven or Rise up and walk?" Both should have been impossible to him. He cured the paralyzed man just to prove that He was also able to make peace between God and those whom God created.

As with any miracle, all it takes is a willingness to have our minds changed about everything connected to the incident. God's perspective is most likely not ours or we would not have gotten into the fix in the first place. Examining our motives and attitudes is where the "trial" part of the miracle occurs. Admitting that we may have been self centered, controlling or thoughtless is hard. Obtaining grace to become less so is easy.

Jesus promised that when He was lifted up He would "draw all people to myself." Just as we were all launched from God to live out our lives on earth, He continually reverses the video to pull us all back into oneness with Him. We feel the tug as the Spirit leads us to rethink, re-imagine and renew our existence to eliminate anything that is unloving or shortsighted.

The Mercedes ad urges the viewer to "think ahead." That's good advice to prevent mistakes. The Spirit urges us to "examine yourself." That's good advice when we didn't take the first.