Traffic Jam

Traffic.  Gridlock.  The stop and go.  The hustle and bustle.  The noise.  The frustration.  The chaos.  The madness.  It can kill the best morning mood and bring a grumpy end to a wonderful day.  And at some point you'll actually have to get in your car and drive...

Sometimes life leaves you feeling like you're stuck in traffic.  Home, work, church, school and community commitments keep us in a perpetual whirl of busyness.  We run here and there until we run ourselves ragged.  We're stretched so thin that our emotions teeter on the brink of either breakdown or explosion.  We live in a constant state of exhaustion, but continue to add commitments.  And then we wonder why we're having trouble hearing God.

In our efforts to be the best spouse, parent, friend, volunteer that we can be, we become consumed by busyness.  But, without really concentrated effort, God's voice is drowned out in the noise.  We live our lives the midst of the traffic, often forgetting there's an exit lane that can bring us rest and renewal.

We become so concerned with being committed to other people's good things, that we lose track of what the best things for us are.  We measure our value (because deep down it's what we think others are doing when they watch us) based on the number of things we can juggle at once while looking our best and wearing our best plastic smile.  All the while, inside we're exhausted wondering why on earth we committed to this.  And forget that God is counting the number of commitments we make to determine our value.  He's looking at how we're serving him.


And all God wants us to do is step out of the traffic.  Step away from the madness and the chaos and fix our eyes on him.  Stop over-committing to everything and starting committing to only those things that are God's best for us.  Take the exit off the busy highway and rest, re-energize, recharge, renew.  Slow down.  Say no.  Step out of the traffic.  Step out of the noise, where his voice is clear.

"Step out of the traffic.  Take a long, loving look at me, you High God, above politics, above everything." Psalm 46:10 MSG