Get Outta My Way or I'll Pout and You'll Pay!

On my way to work today, I had an interesting experience. It was a normal, over-busy, morning on the main street I spend the majority of my commute navigating. The road has four lanes, two in each direction, and the two lanes going my way are filled with cars at that hour, packed like sardines in a can hurling forward at the rate of 50 miles per hour. As this road closes in on the onramp to the freeway, both lanes of traffic begin to merge into the right-hand lane. It is a crowded, often messy, affair, but usually one which can be successfully negotiated with a minimum of hostility. Today I maneuvered into the right lane fairly early; there was a spot open and I took it! As the onramp came ever closer, the drivers in the left lane became more insistent in their attempts to move into the right lane. Most of the time, people make room. This morning, however, the SUV in front of me denied a small compact car’s desire to cut in front of it. I slowed down to make room for the compact car in front of me which gave me a front row seat to the drama which was to unfold. The driver of the compact car would not admit defeat. It kept trying to inch into the path of the SUV until I was sure they were going to collide. Finally, the driver of the small car hit the brakes, let the SUV move ahead, and took the empty place behind the SUV that I had opened up for him what seemed like ages ago.

I gave the driver a smile and a wave, hoping to calm his nerves, but he was not interested in calming down. He proceeded to follow the SUV so closely I thought they might bump together. The SUV would change lanes, the compact car would change lanes right behind it, hitting the gas pedal and the brake in an attempt to stay right on the rear of this SUV. When I exited the freeway, this little car was still at it, looking like a puppy biting the ankles of a St. Bernard. Frankly, the whole incident was at first unsettling, then became silly. I was embarrassed for the driver of that little car. He looked ridiculous!

As I continued on my journey, thinking some uncharitable thoughts about the driver of that car, the Lord opened my eyes to the truth I had just witnessed. I am just like the driver of that compact car!

Excuse me, Lord?? That seems a little harsh for you so share with me at 7:00am, if I may be so bold to say.

Then I looked at the situation from another angle; with me in the driver’s seat of the little car that represented my life. Here I am, cruising along like I own the whole world and someone comes into my path, becoming a barrier to my efforts to move ahead. For example, I make plans to become involved in ministry and I think I’m doing great, then –BAM- the path I am determined to follow to my goal is blocked! I try to fight and elbow my way through the barrier and I am thwarted at every attempt. I finally give up, fall back and proceed to make life miserable for those who got in my way. I gripe, I whine, I pout. Nip, nip!

I end up looking ridiculous.

All the while, my Savior has provided an opening for me so I can continue to move forward. But, because it isn’t exactly the path I had designed for myself to follow, I won’t even acknowledge His provision. So, there I am, sitting smack dab in the middle of the opening God provided for me, and I’m throwing a fit about something I have no control over.

Yup. Ridiculous.

Here’s a novel idea: How about focusing on the blessings God has bestowed upon me instead of the slights well-meaning, but fallible, people have committed against me. Like the SUV driver who didn’t make room, these people may not have even noticed they were impeding my progress. Or maybe their needs were so great they did not have the ability to consider my desires at that particular moment. Either way, I don’t have control over the decisions others make, anyway.

But God does. He knows all, sees all, and is all-powerful. All leaders who are in place are there because God has proclaimed it. I am exactly where I am because God wants me there. It is put so perfectly in Philippians 1:6, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Just because I am not exactly where I expected to be in terms of ministry does not mean God has given up on me. He has begun the good work within all of us and will continue it until it is finally finished when Jesus comes back. He doesn’t give up on us ever. It would do us a great deal of good to remember that. When we focus on what God has provided us rather than what the world has denied us, we can have a much richer, more blessed life. And we are less likely to embarrass ourselves. Amen to that!