How One Simple Idea Has Saved Countless Lives

Maybe you should follow in its lead

Who of us hasn’t gotten sleepy or distracted behind the wheel, only to be jarred awake by rumble strips. It is a brilliant invention that shakes your car when you drive over them on the shoulder or the center of the highway. What an incredible blessing!

Rumble strips save lives

The first rumble strips were introduced on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey back in 1952. They rarely get much attention and I don’t recall ever seeing a headline news story on them. Consider these statistics taken from (https://www.nh.gov/dot/org/projectdevelopment/highwaydesign/rumble-strips/index.htm):

Nationally, the center line rumble strips on rural two-lane roads have witnessed a 44% reduction of head-on fatal crashes. In urban areas, the number rises to 64%, and the shoulder rumble strips have reduced the run-off-the-road fatal crashes by 36% in rural areas.

So the next time you accidentally roll over a rumble strip, give a shout-out to the person who came up with the idea. However, we aren’t sure who to thank.

Be a spiritual rumble strip

Why don’t you become a living rumble strip? No, please don’t lie down on the side of the highway. At least not the ones on which cars drive. But what about the proverbial “highway of life?”

Think about it. We have all watched people we know and love start to drift on this highway. We can see them starting to make poor decisions that we know will impact their lives for years or decades.

Sometimes, we watch from a distance and shake our heads. We may feel sad and wish we could have an impact to help them see the errors of their ways, but we then do nothing about it.

Spiritual rumble strips have been around for at least 2,000 years. The Apostle Paul explained what they are in Galatians 6.

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. (Galatians 6:1–3, NLT)

Someone you love is drifting off the road

It is the task of every godly believer to be a rumble strip in the life of someone else. When you see someone drifting from the path of discipleship, speak to them. Please do it gently and humbly, but do it. Spend much time in prayer before you talk to them, but speak up.

Here is a disappointing thing about rumble strips. They don’t save every life. Some people are driving too fast, too erratic, or too intoxicated to stop the destruction that awaits them. In the spiritual sense, even if you do your job perfectly, some will continue down their destructive path.

I am thankful for rumble strips. They have saved me on the road on many occasions. I am also grateful for the spiritual rumble strips that God has placed in my life as well.

May you and I be that to others on the highway of life.