Encouragement

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So I was getting my nails done the other day and the manicurist was late for my appointment. She finally arrived and said she was sorry for being late, that she was stuck in traffic. We got to talking about traffic and how we hate sitting in it. We will do anything to avoid it. Drive a mile out of our way just so we will be moving. Even if it takes the same amount of time or even longer with our added detour, we still prefer it over being motionless. I got to thinking about how this concept of sitting in traffic applies to my walk with God. I get so antsy when I think I am not moving and I am stuck in the “traffic” of my life. Doesn’t God understand that I am going to be late?! I have places to be, thank you very much. But God, ever so patiently, reminds me that I am not in the driver’s seat of my life. My life will happen on His timetable, according to His plan. All of my road rage and attempts to get out of the traffic will not deter Him from His timing.

And I got to thinking, why would I want to take a detour from the road that God has my life on? Why would I ever think that I knew better than God and I could find a better route? I may find a clear and easy street to drive on, but it is in God’s will for me to be there? Will it put me back even further from the goals that I want to achieve? Will this need for control over my life eventually ruin me?

I thank God that He has me in traffic sometimes. He is protecting me from myself and my attempts to further my own life. I think that sometimes, in these periods of waiting, God is protecting us from something that we are not ready for. He is slowing us down from the self-destructive path we are on. And if we take the driver’s seat and presume to know more than God, how scary is that? We are not in the protection of God’s hands anymore when we try to regain control.

Another thing that happens in traffic is a disregard for the other people on the road. We think that we have the priority and the right-of-way. Don’t we realize that everyone there is in the same boat? They are all stuck too and have places they want to get to. And we don’t do much for ourselves or for the name of God when we trample over others in a selfish attempt to get ahead.

It’s scary to sit in traffic and let go of the need to control. It’s scary to sit still and watch God work when everything within us is screaming to do something about it or we will end up behind. But in these times of the sweet slowdown, God rejuvenates us. He gets our attention and reminds us of who is in control. He is not ready for us to be where we think we should be. The time is not yet right. So in these unsettling times of life’s traffic, it is important to remember that it is God who will lead us into glory and it is God who will carry us. It’s time to just take a deep breath, accept what is happening, and put our hope in a more than worthy God.

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