One of the sure signs I’m not in a good place with Jesus is when I feel myself becoming an angry driver – I’m serious.
When everyone in the world needs to get out of the way, when every light should be green, when my fingers instinctively reach for the horn just because somebody slowed down – there’s no love in the way I drive. But it doesn’t stop there.
Once I get home, I bulldoze past my family on the way upstairs to change clothes; I raise my voice too easily when I come back downstairs and my daughters are fighting; and I get annoyed that I have to do the dishes after dinner.
I pray and ask God to “give me patience,” but He shrugs off my attempt to turn Him into a magical prayer genie. Instead, He puts strong, quiet pressure on my prideful heart. And if I will listen, He begins teaching me, correcting me, and saying something like:
These cars are not your problem; your daughters are not your problem; dirty dishes are not your problem – you are your problem. I’m allowing these frustrations into your life to put the pressure on you, to squeeze out the toxic juice that tastes a whole lot like a man who thinks he ought to be lord over his little universe. Grow up, son, and live the life of a servant who thinks of others as better than himself (Phil. 2:3).
Quite frankly, I’d prefer instant answers to my magical prayers for spiritual maturity, but God refuses, and this is why: He has no interest in helping me hide my need for Him.
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Joshua Rogers 
I love your ending quote: “Quite frankly, I’d prefer instant answers to my magical prayers for spiritual maturity, but God refuses, and this is why: He has no interest in helping me hide my need for Him.”
So true and thought-provoking!
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I love the topic of spiritual maturity because it transcends literal age. In some areas we need to grow from infancy (expecting God to do everything for us, hold, coddle, feed, and less appealing “change us.”)
And then we realize, we aren’t babies anymore. But then maybe we are begrudging when God asks us to so something, now we are spiritually teenagers angst and all!
I digress 🙂
I’ll never forget something you wrote that I’ve been quoting to all I know to the extent “when someone cuts you off suddenly think -‘they must have diarrhea’ ”
It’s the little things man, they just stick.
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That diarrhea quote is actually from my gracious wife. And thanks for those thoughts on spiritual maturity. That really helps me understand Paul’s comment about not being “babes in Christ.” We can all regress in the ageless spiritual world.
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This post resonated with me. The “you” that you wrote about is ME on an almost-daily basis. I thank the Lord for the kick-in-the-pants reminder through your post to become more servant-hearted.
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