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

The Nail in Your Wrist

There is a brilliant song on the radio now by a band named Sidewalk Prophets called "You Love Me Anyway"(click the link to hear it).  Every time I hear it, I'm overwhelmingly moved by the words.

As I question God's direction in my life, He loves me anyway.  As I complain about the circumstances I find myself in, He loves me anyway.  When I disobey, He loves me anyway.  When my faith is lacking, He loves me anyway.  But those are the things we know, right? Those are the things where we daily fall short.  So it's easier to believe that He loves me anyway, because those aren't the things that nailed Jesus to the cross...are they?

I think it's so often too easy to see our daily shortcomings as "small" things that we need to deal with, but not see them as significant in the grand scheme of sin.  Could my complacency today have been part of what put Jesus on the cross? Pilate was complacent, unwilling to make a decision, so he turned Jesus over to the angry crowd.  Could my pride today have put him there? The pride of the church leaders of that time couldn't accept Jesus for who he was.  They perceived Him as such a threat that they tried to end His ministry.  Could my greed be a reason he was nailed to the cross? Judas' greed drove him to betray Jesus.

I think, if I'm being honest, I've been the nail in His wrist.  I've been the thorn in His brow.  I've denied him publicly, but then begged for mercy in private.  I've been Judas' kiss.  But in ALL of it, HE LOVES ME ANYWAY.

If you question today if it's still possible for Him to love you, know that He does.  There is NOTHING so big, NOTHING so bad, no place too far.  God loves YOU.  God values YOU.  Run to Him.  Grab on to that love that washes over a multitude of sins.  He loves you anyway.

Virtue...Lacking

Patience is a virtue.  I've heard it my whole life.  And have been impatient my whole life.  Patience is most definitely a virtue that I struggle with daily.  Especially on days that involve a trip to the grocery store...when I'm in a hurry.

On a recent Thursday, in our rush to get out the door, I left my 3 year old's lunch at home.  We were too far from home when she realized her lunch wasn't in the backseat for me to do anything about it.  So I promised I would go to the grocery store before her lunch time and get lunch to her class.  Now, of course, I got out of the office very last minute to run to the store and get her lunch picked up.  With no time to spare and no time for delays, I rushed to the store.

My first encounter upon entering the parking lot was an elderly lady trying to cross from her parking space to the store entrance.  Embarrassingly, I'll admit that normally this would greatly try my patience.  But on this day, that wasn't my first reaction at all.  As I watched her struggle to cross the short distance from her parking space to the front door, I was moved to pray for her.  Specifically to pray that those she deals with on a daily basis would be compassionate towards her and show her patience.

After rushing through the store like a mad woman grabbing what I needed, I got in the shortest of the express checkout lines.  There was a college age student at the front of the line.  As soon as her transaction was completed, she seemed to panic.  Apparently the checker forgot to run a few of her coupons and she was scared that her checking account was going to be overdrawn.  As her plea to the checker to reverse the transaction held up the rest of the "express" lane, I began to pray that her situation would be resolved.  Again, not really a normal reaction.  Shortly after, a manager came over and escorted her to a place where they could take care of her problem.

The next person in line, the gentleman immediately in front of me, checked out.  At this point I've realized that my daughter's lunchtime starts in 1 minute.  And I'm still at the store...waiting to check out.  The gentleman in front of me requested some very specific cigarettes.  The checker got the wrong ones.  The man waiting for them demanded the "right" cigarettes be brought to him.  But there were none in our lane.  Or the next.  Or even the next 2.  Finally, 4 lanes away from us, the "right" cigarettes were found.  And I was able to check out.  The checker was noticeably frazzled.  I quickly (to myself) prayed that his day would improve and headed out of the store.  As I looked at my watch, I knew I was late.  And because she is my offspring, knew that my daughter would have no patience with my being late with her lunch.

I started to think about my "reactions" to my delays at the store.  And admittedly realized that those were not at all normal ways for me to react to those delays.  It was then that I felt God softly speak to me that, through the compassion I chose to have for others that day, my patience increased.  I felt God speak to me that his compassion for us is why he doesn't lose his patience with us.  If I would choose to see situations and circumstances through eyes of compassion, my patience would increase.  And my frustration would decrease.  My 20 minute trip to the grocery store ended up being a lesson that (hopefully) will stick with me for a very long time.  Compassion breeds patience.

And the bonus? When I got to my daughter's class with her lunch (10 minutes late), they were just coming in from the playground.  I wasn't "late" after all!