Lane Jumper

Well patience has been my biggest lesson this week.  Let's start with a quick story.  This week I had to travel to Peoria, Illinois to visit one of my customer's.  I left normal time on Tuesday and looked at the weather before leaving as there is a stretch which can be pretty treacherous.  Everything was clear and I was making good time,  looking forward to getting into the hotel a bit early and getting a nice workout in and catching up on some homework. Well just over half way there and 10 miles from Chicago the traffic sign says 10 miles 156 minutes.  Must be a misprint right.  Yeah I wish.  I was stuck in a huge snow storm and it took me over 4 hours to go 10 miles in complete whiteout conditions.  This trip did not end there as on my way home I hit white out conditions throughout my entire trip and had some of the worst roads I had ever driven on.  I thank the Lord for the safe travel as for others this trip caused many issues.

While sitting in the huge traffic jam and storm on Tuesday my blog for this week came to me.  No one was moving, the semis were putting their trucks in park and walking around.  4 lanes of traffic were completely stopped with no route around.  You just had to wait it out, you had no choice.  Well one lady was not so patient.  She constantly jumped lane to lane for the next 4 hours.  I never changed lanes and she was always within two cars of me even though she was determined to get out.  This really got me thinking about each one of us in our lives.  How we get caught up in moving quickly and not sitting down and being patient.  When we get stuck in a traffic jam are we the first person to jump from lane to lane to find a way out.  Have you ever thought that God may be slowing you down for a reason?  It is very easy to get impatient and keep moving as their is so much going on in life and most of the time we all feel we don't have enough time in a day to get everything done.

Patience is a virtue and it is not easy to always be patient.  Our society teaches us not to be patient.  When you go to a fast food place and you don't have your food almost instantly you are taught to be upset.  It is so easy to not sit back and take the time to relax.  Life puts road blocks in front of us daily with some being bigger than others. Have you ever thought to take that time and instead of getting upset and pushy to sit back and look at the blessings you have?  This time can easily be spent freaking out on a situation you cannot control or it can be a time to reflect on your relationship with God.  Did you ever think maybe God wanted you to slow down?

I can tell you I am normally the person who is mad at the fast food people or trying every way around that road block but this week I realized that I couldn't change my situation.  I was still antsy to get moving and get to my destination but was able to relax and focus on my relationship with God.  I want to challenge each one of you this week to slow down when a "traffic jam" is put in your life and look towards him.  Don't be the one who is moving lane to lane to gain nothing but use this time to gain a deeper relationship with him.  Relax and have some time with God.  We have a hard time getting a break from everything that is going on so when you get a break that wasn't expected use it for the best.  Strengthen that relationship with your Father.

Colossians 3:12

New International Version (NIV)

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.