Traffic

I have done a bunch of driving lately and when on the highway I am constantly trying to dodge traffic jams and find a way out or off my path when I am able to see a backup on the road ahead. I have a tendency to drive a little fast and am not too patient when it comes to traffic. A weak spot for sure in my personality. We were heading west on I 10 last weekend and the traffic coming into town on I 10 was horrid. The backup traffic jam had cars either stuck in place, or moving at a snail's pace for miles and miles due to roadwork. It made me tense up just thinking about the folks who were having to bear the burden of something they had no control over. And there was no way off and no way out that I could see. Only option was to ride it out....in patience. I just knew that wherever they were heading it was going to take a great deal longer to get there than they had expected.

We have all been on opposite sides of moving traffic. There are times when one side seems to be moving in constant motion and other times when motion is thwarted by obstacles, and has come to a slight halt. That is the way it is with us in our lives. There are times when life seems to be moving in a stable state of forward progression while other times they are stymied by obstacles that we have no control over. I looked across the
median at a glance and saw cars not faces. But can be assured that many of those faces were not happy ones. They had found themselves in a position of submission, through no fault of their own, only circumstances that were before them.

Everyday, one of us is experiencing that same dilemma. It may be in regard to health, relationships, finances, grief, job stability, or even a natural disaster. Someone is stuck in place...and cannot find an outlet that would set them free of the physical and mental turmoil that is upon them. I have been there and I suppose that you have been there too.
So what next... well, that choice is ours. For we have been given an outlet. It is a detour from the binding pressures that are upon us that comes from God himself. But the deal is we have to submit and commit to that detoured path to gain the access that will set us free.

In a traffic jam, freedom means getting off the track that is filed with obstacles and being set free to access a road less traveled, and less hindered with careless debris. I think of the times I have jumped the grassy median in frustration and impatience, just to find an open road, and how freed I felt when I was no longer bound by pressures that surrounded me. It was a little risky for sure, but to me it was worth the chance.

God gives us a road of confidence....if we give him our trust and have faith that he will lead us according to the place he has set out for us to be. Yes we are going to get stuck, and yes we are going to have jams and yes we are going to be sandwiched between obstacles that seemingly leave us no moving room...BUT God remains present in our lives and he knows what halts our forward progress and how to help us to be free of the constant worries and anxieties that plague us. That freedom lies with the choice that we make to take his path. Do we take the risk and trust God to guide us and protect us, and cross over that grassy median that stands between our wanting to be in control or our letting God be in control, or do we remain stuck on the road in slow moving traffic?

I am not condoning law breaking initiate here, only a possible and generous alternative to being stuck in situations that seem to stop us in our tracks. If you are stuck in something right now that is frustrating you and tugging at your patience, maybe it would be a worthy effort to ask God to show you His road of confidence. To help you find a freedom in Him that overrides the traffic that is before you. God will not necessarily release the traffic, or open up the jam but he will release you from the anxiety of having to deal with it alone. We will have the freedom, if we put our trust in God that he will get us to where he wants us to be in his timely manner. I have learned that if I faithfully give God the authority to lead me to freedom, through his grace, provisions and direction, it is then that I am released from the burdens of getting through the obstacles that have slowed down my forward progress. God knows the off roads that
are less traveled...but that have the greatest access to true freedom.

Consider a minute what is keeping you from holding onto the peaceful freedom that Christ offers? What stands in front of you that keeps you stuck in turmoil. Don't you want to sidestep it? Do you want an offroad experience that will bring you to peaceful places you have never seen or experienced. If you do then ask God to give you the courage and the direction to travel on his path, and help you not be so convinced and convicted to stay on your own.

Dear Lord, Help me to remember when I get stuck in traffic...be it thoughts or disappointments, or anxious moments to come to you and seek your road of freedom through your mercy and your grace. Amen

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Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!