The Dodge Charger

Laura Booz: The other day I stopped at an intersection with a new traffic light. The red light turned to a flashing yellow left-hand arrow. This was new to me, so it took me a moment to figure out what I was supposed to do. 

Meanwhile, the guy in the car behind me started honking impatiently. I’m like, “Okay, Buddy, just take it easy. I’m doing my best.” Eventually, I turned left. He turned left. No sooner were we driving down the road when I heard his engine rev. 

I looked in my rearview mirror just as he put the pedal to the metal and passed me on the left. Rubber was burning! Smoke was pouring out of his exhaust pipe! I mean, he was flying! I felt like we were on the home stretch of the Daytona 500.

I don't typically notice car models, but this car got my attention. It was a 2023 Dodge Charger SRT HellCat in a stunning shade of Destroyer Grey. 

I mean these guys buy their tire-shredding muscle cars, and then have nowhere better to drive them than down our peaceful country roads. And they have no regard for anyone else who is out and about. I mean, did that guy just want to show off how fast his car went? Well, it went fast. 

I was just regretting that there were no regular speed traps down the road. 

Hi there. You’re listening to Expect Something Beautiful with Laura Booz. 

A few minutes later, I pulled up to the next traffic light in a small town. The light was green, but I couldn’t go because in front of me was a white SUV that was stalled out. Just as I pulled up, a middle-aged man was getting ready to push the SUV. He was balding, his pants were kind of falling down under his belly. But when the woman driver beckoned for him to begin, he pushed that vehicle with all of his might. 

One plodding step at a time, he pushed that vehicle through the intersection, down a side street, until she could pull over to safety.

I was all caught up in this story. I mean, talk about a modern-day knight. Just as I came to my senses and prepared to progress through the intersection myself, I noticed that there was an empty car parked along the side of the road, next to where the white SUV had been sitting. That car was a 2023 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in Destroyer Grey.

I looked from the muscle car to the man pushing the SUV down the road, and I realized: that’s the guy. That’s the guy who honked incessantly at me! That’s the guy who was in such a hurry! He’s the one who peeled out and left me in the dust.

Suddenly everything made sense, and the whole story flipped on its head. She had called for help, and he had moved heaven and earth to get to her.

It reminded me of a passage in Psalm 18 that describes how God responds when we call for help. Here's what Scripture says,

In my distress I called upon the Lord;
   to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
   and my cry to him reached his ears.
Then the earth reeled and rocked;
   the foundations also of the mountains trembled
   and quaked, because he was angry.

Smoke went up from his nostrils,
   and devouring fire from his mouth;
   glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens and came down;
   thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew;
   he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
   thick clouds dark with water.

Out of the brightness before him
   hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
   and the Most High uttered his voice,
   hailstones and coals of fire.

And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
   he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen,
   and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
   at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

He sent from on high, he took me;
   he drew me out of many waters.
He rescued me from my strong enemy
   and from those who hated me,
   for they were too mighty for me.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
   but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a broad place;
   he rescued me, because he delighted in me. (vv. 6–19)

Wow! How powerful is this rescue scene?! How dramatic and severe! When you call for help, God tears through the atmosphere, routing the elements, and setting the earth a-trembling just to get to you and rescue you.

And why? Because He delights in you.

Your soul is more valuable to Him than anything else. In Mark 8 Jesus said, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

In other words, if you had a balance and you put your soul on one side . . . Just your soul, not your abilities and your accomplishments, not your personality and looks, not your financial worth or your community service . . . just your soul. And on the other side you put the whole world—all of nature, all of history and its accomplishments, man's praise and power and riches . . . the whole world. And you wanted to know which was more valuable? The scales would tip immediately and drastically in the direction of your soul, every time.

God says your soul is infinitely more valuable than anything else.

This is why He has given His own Son to die for your sins, and why He raised Him from the grave so that He may dwell with you forever. All of the powerful imagery of Psalm 18 reveals just a glimpse of God’s passionate investment in your salvation. 

I hope you know that just as He has moved heaven and earth to save your soul, He will come to your rescue when you call for help today

So, if you are stalled out or in danger or in need of help in any way, call out to Him and He will come to you—much faster than the fastest race car, more powerful than the most powerful muscle car. I can hear Him revving the engine now.

One way God has already provided for you is through His Word. He speaks through the Holy Spirit to make the Bible come alive to give you the insight you need in every situation.

On the Revive Our Hearts podcast, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth will help unpack the Bible for you. She’ll help you recognize ways to live out God’s Word as a woman in the twenty-first century. You can listen to Revive Our Hearts each weekday by getting the Revive Our Hearts app.

And I want to encourage you as well on my personal blog, LauraBooz.com.

Expect Something Beautiful is part of the Revive Our Hearts Podcast family, calling you to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ!