Grace and a flat tire

 Mike Willock writes: You might very well ask, “What connection does grace possibly have to do with a flat tire?” Let me explain.

Recently, I drove this car to St. Louis Area Foodbank in Maryland Heights to pick up 350 lb of food and bring it to the church. That’s a trip of about 50 miles, including long stretches of I-70 eastbound at 60+ mph in heavy traffic to Kingshighway, Page and Taylor and later I-64 westbound home at noon. The previous day I had driven to Hugh and Pat Neilson’s apartment on 14th St. to share a final communion with Hugh and Pat and their family before they left for Denver, driving another 40+ miles on I-64 and city streets. When I got home on Friday I parked the car in our driveway and went inside. Later that day I found the left front tire flat. That’s when I took this picture.

This was not an ordinary flat tire – not a puncture that would deflate the tire over several minutes. This was a valve stem failure. The end of the stem with the inflation valve had broken off so the tire deflated in seconds – apparently due to a hidden crack in the valve stem. So, I had driven about 100 miles – freeways, curbs, potholes and all – with a tire that could have failed at any moment, causing a collision with injuries or worse. But, that didn’t happen. Instead, the valve stem failed with the car safely parked in my driveway.

Friends, that is grace. By the grace of God I was safely inside at home and no one was hurt when the tire went suddenly flat. Praise God!

We experience God’s grace regularly. Grace is when we trip and almost fall and injure ourselves, but we don’t fall. Grace is when we hesitate to move when the light turns green and then we see another car shoot through the intersection where our car could have been. Grace is when we get an urge to call a friend and later learn that our call came at just the right moment in the friend’s life. Grace is when we unexpectedly receive a note that lifts our spirits. Grace is walking outside to get the morning paper and being greeted by a beautiful sunrise. Grace is the surprising beauty of a flower or a tree where you don’t expect it. Grace is unexpectedly finding something we have lost after we have given up the search. God’s grace comes to us often, but we have to be alert to recognize grace when it comes so we can give thanks and praise to God. And, just as God’s grace comes to us unbidden, we may be the means of God’s grace to those around us.

Some would call my experience luck, but luck has nothing to do with it. Luck is finding a penny in a parking lot. My flat tire in the driveway was God’s grace, pure and simple. Thanks be to God! 

God’s grace comes to us often, but we have to be alert to recognize grace when it comes so we can give thanks and praise to God.