Ever Have one of Those Moments?

I will never forget the day. I was about 13 and my sister and I went grocery shopping. She had just gotten her license and it was one of her first solo trips.

After shopping, we went out to the parking lot, loaded the groceries and then got in the car. My sister put the keys in the ignition and they would not turn. She became frustrated and was growing more and more agitated. I knew it was best to keep my mouth shut when she was upset so I tried to ignore her. I simply just looked around trying to avoid looking at her. It was then I realized that we were in the wrong car.

After a furious departure, unloading and reloading of groceries into our car which was nearby, we jumped into our car and burst out laughing. The cars were both FORD LTD's and they looked the same from the outside.

So you might understand why I freaked out yesterday when I finished my shopping, loaded the groceries into my car and got in it to drive away, put the key in the ignition and it would not turn!

I panicked and looked around. For one instant nothing seemed familiar and I knew what I had done. I yanked the keys out of the car and reached for the door and was halfway out when I noticed the steering wheel cover. It was identical to the one in my car. It was the steering wheel cover that my son bought to accessorize the car. It had dragons on it and it was pretty unique. The familiarity of the steering wheel brought everything into focus. This was my car. I had not gotten into some strangers car and when I looked around this time it was all very familiar. I stuck the key in the ignition and it would not turn. So I jiggled the steering wheel until I could get the key to turn.

If I had never gotten into the wrong car when I was 13, I probably would have never thought I had gotten into a strangers car yesterday. What strikes me about the whole thing is that in that brief moment of panic nothing looked right - I did not recognize anything.

Have you ever had one of those moments when nothing seems familiar. Maybe you are writing something and you look a simple word that you have spelled a thousand times and it just doesn't look right. It looks funny and unfamiliar.

The Bible tells us that the Kingdom of God has arrived. That is what Jesus announced and his birth inaugurated. We live in the kingdom when we become a follower of Christ. The world may look like the same old fallen world but we are in a whole new realm. One day, after we die or when Christ returns, the scales will fall from our eyes and the Kingdom will be fully revealed. I think it will look unfamiliar at first but then after we pause a moment look at the familiar face of Jesus, the one who has been with us all our lives, we will relax and recognize the kingdom for what it is - the Glory of the living God.