I was driving home on Monday night thinking it would be a pretty quiet evening. It had been a good day at work but I was definitely looking forward to having the night off and just being able to unwind at the house. Maybe I was a little too excited about all of that; maybe I was anticipating it a bit too much. It’s possible I was going a little fast. Not fast enough to get a ticket, if that’s where you think this is heading! But fast enough that the newly installed speed bumps in my neighborhood gave my car’s shocks a REALLY good workout.

I was not a happy little guy. First of all, can a home owner’s association just install those things on a random Monday without warning? I know the average Northern Virginia home owner’s association makes the government of Myanmar look compassionate…but still. Is there no limit to what they can do? But more importantly, I really think you need to paint those things. I didn’t even see it coming! It honestly wasn’t my fault – I was just minding my own business and then BAM…massive speed bump. Not cool at all.

But life’s a lot like that, isn’t it? You can be sailing along on a perfectly calm day and then all of a sudden, BAM…a massive speed bump. Ever been there? I know I have. The Bible promises it’s going to happen to each one of us. The only question that really matters is what we’re going to do when we hit the speed bumps.

Will we cling to Christ and His promises? Or will we go on spiritual hiatus? Will we allow the trials to bring us closer to God or to drag us away?

I know that doesn’t lessen the shock of the bumps. But, hopefully, it helps us handle them with grace.