12.13.04

Today’s devotional was written by Dr. Walker Moore who is president of AweStar Ministries in Tulsa, P. O. Box 470265, Tulsa 74147. You may contact Walker at walker@awestar.org or 800.293.7827. Visit their website at www.awestar.org.

So the watchman reported, saying, "He went up to them and is not coming back; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously!" - 2 Kings 9:20.

Last week I was in Peru visiting some missionaries. The first thing you notice upon leaving the airport is the way the Peruvians drive. If you did not know any better you would of have thought that someone had just announced that the world was coming to an end.within the hour. In America we have stoplights, yield signs, right of way laws and so do the Peruvians. But in Peru, it does not mean a thing. If you are planning on driving overseas let me give you a tip: forget everything that you ever learned in driver's training. There seems to be two methods of driving. You can drive like an American or you can drive like the rest of the world. The rest of the world's driving consists of sitting in a vehicle that is about the size of a bathtub with five other people. (You become very familiar with your knees.) The objective in "overseas" driving is to see how fast you can go while at the same time seeing how close you can get to other vehicles. You can tell if you reached your objective if you can look over and see what radio station the other car is listening to. I must confess that I prayed more riding for 15 minutes in the backseat of a Peruvian taxicab than I did in the month of January.

I have made several observations about "overseas" driving, and if we could teach our teenagers these principles, we could prepare them to drive anywhere in the world- except America. First, is the horn principle. In a foreign country the horn is the most important item on the car. Now you might think that the brakes or good tires would be important. But you would be wrong. If your car does not have a horn you cannot drive in a foreign country. When a massive number of cars are coming to an intersection at blinding speeds, the one with the loudest horn has the right of way. With a thousand cars just inches from yours the one with the loudest horn does seem to be heard the best, and everyone lets them through. Everyone is so proud of their horns that they honk them all the time. Second, you need to know the centimeter principle. While many cars are converging upon an intersection at blinding speeds the car whose bumper has protruded into the intersection the farthest by at least a centimeter is the one who has the right of way. This is difficult for Americans because we do not know the metric system. Yet most foreigners can judge these distances while traveling at 100 kilometers per hour. And we refer to these countries as being underdeveloped. I beg to differ. The third and most important principle is the banged up principle. When negotiating space with another car, the one that has the most dents has the right of way. This car has much more experience on the road and since age is respected in these countries you need to allow it to have the right of way. The people who drive these cars seem to have no fear of you or your vehicle whatsoever. So just smile and let them have whatever they want. When your teenager gets ready to learn to drive just give them the keys and a plane ticket!

Insight: Teach your child that driving is a responsibility not a right.

Prayer: Dear Father, I must confess that I am afraid to release my child to the open road. Could You influence Congress to pass a law raising the legal driving age to 35? If not, could You help me teach my child to become a responsible driver. Help my child to understand that this freedom only comes with maturity. May Your angels never let them out of the driveway without Your wisdom and their brain. Amen.