Posted on June 18, 2026 by Rev. David Gunderson, tLMFT
Godly Living
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It happened on a Sunday night. My parents lent me their new car so I could pick up a friend and head to the youth group meeting at church. As I turned a corner on that cold night, the car hit a patch of ice and began to swerve. Like most teenage drivers, I immediately hit the brakes, and the car instantly locked up and slid across the road into a snowbank.
Neither one of us was hurt, but when my father — who was a professional truck driver — arrived on the scene in the old red Oldsmobile, his words were simply, “Not very smart driving.”
At that point, he handed me the keys to the old red Oldsmobile and said, “You better get going to your meeting.”
The last thing I wanted to do was get behind the wheel of a car again, but you do what your father tells you to do. As I drove those three miles to church at five miles per hour, I realized something about my father. He didn’t chew me out. Instead, he knew I needed to get behind the wheel again. I needed to face my fear, and he gave me that opportunity.
Later, I realized my earthly father had also given me a lesson about my Heavenly Father.
Our Heavenly Father knows we are sinners who will often fail to do what is right in thought, word, and deed. Yet, amazingly, He doesn’t condemn us but instead saves us. Romans 5:8 states, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Our Heavenly Father gave His Son to be the sacrifice for us so that we can be sons and daughters in God’s family. Like my earthly father, our Heavenly Father gives us opportunities to try again and to live according to His will.
At times we do well, but at other times we fail. Yet even when we fail, God is there to forgive us and get us going again and again and again. We live under God’s amazing grace, and our goal is to be like Jesus.
In this life, we will never be perfect, but we can strive to be like Him.
In closing, I must confess that my first time on slippery ice was not my last. I can recall two other occasions when driving on black ice I ended up in a ditch, needing help to get out. On each occasion, I recalled my earthly father’s guidance to get behind the wheel and keep on going.
In the same way, I begin each day knowing that I live under my Heavenly Father’s amazing grace, which enables me to keep going no matter what troubles I may encounter. Under God’s amazing grace, we can keep striving to do our Heavenly Father’s will.
God’s Peace in Christ!
Pastor Dave Gunderson
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