Signs of The Times

Cathy and I came upon a very unusual sign painted on the road at an intersection that was recently re-paved. The sign shows an arrow that has three heads: one pointing forward, one left, and one right. This was at a four-way stop; one lane in each direction. 

The purpose (we assume) is to communicate to drivers that when they come to this intersection, they can either go left, right, or straight ahead…after stopping of course.


We wondered how drivers knew what to do all those years prior to the city painting this unusual sign on the road. 

Since then we have seen other unusual signs like one that tells me that I can’t turn left or do a “U-turn”. And then there is my favorite sign of “Round-About” that looks as though it was created by the same person who designed a symbol of the late musician Prince.

Yes, for some reason society has decided that we now need to have signs up in order for drivers to know what to do. Again, this begs me to ask the question; “How were we all able to drive in the past without all of this additional signage? 

And for some reason even the signs we are familiar with seem to no longer mean what they are supposed to mean. For instance, a speed limit sign that says”55 MPH” actually seems to mean “65” or even “70”.


There are electronic signs that post what your speed is in an attempt to provoke you to slow down. Instead they seem to be a good way for drivers to test if their speedometers are accurate or not!


A solid white line is supposed to mean that drivers are required to stay within the lane and also marks the shoulder of the roadway. A broken white line indicates that you may change lanes if it is safe to do so.

And yet, constantly I observe drivers (seemingly) ignoring or not paying attention to the solid white line and changing lanes whenever it suits them. This can be extremely annoying when going through a construction zone during rush hour.

So, as far as the drivers are concerned, do any signs actually mean what they say? Or are we simply not paying attention to what they are saying; taking a risk that nothing will happen if a driver doesn’t follow the sign…  

Worse than not obeying the traffic signs is what I have observed in the attitudes of the drivers out on the roads. This concerns me because I think that there are a LOT of bad drivers on the roads today; worse that I have observed in the past forty two years that I have been driving! 

In the past few years I have seen a HUGE increase in the number of drivers talking on cell phones, texting, eating, applying makeup, reading, fighting, and other forms of doing everything but simply driving. 


I have observed drivers go perpendicular across four lanes of traffic simply because they want to get off the exit rather than go to the next one.  


I have watched drivers cursing other drivers in an attempt to say; “Hey I am so narcissistic that if I had my way, no one but ME would be allowed to drive on this road!” 


I even recently had a fellow driver roll down his window and  spit at my car as he, with veins popping out of his neck, screamed and yelled at me simply because he thought that I (who was ahead of him) should have let him go around me in a construction area where two lanes became one. 

I know that this shouldn’t surprise me, but it still does. Because even worse than not paying attention or not following the road signs, we as humans tend to not pay attention to the “signs of the times” concerning the days we are living in. 

All throughout scripture (the Bible) we are told that in the last days we will see an increase of darkness, selfishness, rudeness from people who are unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, headstrong, haughty, who curse and simply want their own way driving (walking) according to their own lusts.


These are the signs of the times, and yet, like the signs of the roadways we drive, we tend to ignore them instead of letting them provoke us and wake us up to the days we are in.  

The antidote to responding to bad drivers is for Christians to pay attention to the roads sign and to behave like Christ. 

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome (Romans 12:9-21):
“Let love be without hypocrisy.
Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Be of the same mind toward one another.
Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.
Do not be wise in your own opinion.
Repay no one evil for evil.
Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 


That is how we pay attention to the signs of the times! 


All Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.