In late 2014, I was journeying down to London for a speaking engagement. I set out in the early hours of the morning and stopped off, just over halfway, at a service station on the M1 for a coffee. I pulled into the car park, got out, and then realised I’d left my wallet on the passenger seat and the central locking light was on! I’m not sure how this happened, but I had locked myself out of my car! ‘Oh no,’ I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ And, to make things worse, my wallet was locked inside too!
My first reaction was to think of how I could break into the car. This was my old instincts kicking in. Then, I realised that I’m a member of the RAC—I didn’t have to break in. Boy, how things had changed since my younger days. Me, a member of the RAC! I rubbed down my pockets and, to my relief, found a 50 pence piece. ‘Great.’ I went inside the service station and called the RAC. Their man arrived one hour later.
‘Hi mate,’ I said to him, ‘I’ve locked my keys in my car.’ ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be in in no time.’ I said, ‘I bet you’ve done this few times before, haven’t you?’ ‘Just a few,’ he replied. He handed me a clipboard and said, ‘I need you to sign here. I need your permission to gain access into your car.’ ‘Okay,’ I said, and then I thought, ‘He’ll probably do a better job than me.’
He went to his van and produced a narrow, metre-long bag. He unzipped it and pulled out a long, thin piece of wire and a small device with a little, round hand pump attached. Then, he pulled out two thin, plastic wedges. I was right, he has done this before. This guy was a real pro. Not a brick in sight.He positioned one of the wedges at the top corner of the driver’s side door and tapped it into place, creating a small gap. Next, he inserted the device and began to pump it. After making the gap larger, he slipped the long price of wire through and used it to reach for my keys, which were in the ignition. After several attempts, he freed the keys and pulled them out through the corner of the door. ‘Phew, I’m so glad I renewed my RAC,’ I thought.
I found the whole process quite intriguing: from an ex-criminal’s perspective, yes, but even more so from a spiritual perspective. You see, in a way, we are each like a car. God is on the outside, and he wants to come in. He wants to gain access so that he can journey with us.
As I watched the RAC man, I thought, ‘God would never do that…he would never try to force open the door. He wouldn’t use a wedge and a pump to get in.’
Some of you reading this have opened the door for God, giving him access. He’s on your journey with you. Others who are reading this haven’t. Is that you?
Right now, God is standing at the driver’s side door of your life. He wants to gain access so that he can journey with you. What are you going to do? Remember, he will not try and force the door of your life open with a wedge and pump. Like the RAC man, he will always need your permission. Are you ready to sign your name and give him that permission? That’s up to you.
Barry