Midnight and Stoplights
(I wanted to name this 'Protection'. Facebook thinks it's inappropriate...Funny sidenote.)
I wrote this a few months ago-notice the Book of Eli reference. But, it was ringing in my ears today. I've seen a lot of doors close around me lately and my dear friend, Helen, reminded me that I can't look at those closed doors like rejection, but protection. God is just protecting me from further going the wrong way....
I was driving home the other night, right about midnight, feeling kinda blue and gloomy. I was stopped at a redlight for what seemed like 30 minutes, and I thought to myself, "Light, if you don't turn green in two short seconds I am gonna just drive through you!" Almost immediately, a little-and might I mention invisable-car zoomed through the light on the other side. Because I'm a bit of a scatter-brain, this really got me thinking...
How often do I look at situations in my life and think, "God, if You don't just fix this right now, I'm gonna do my own thing, and it will be easier and less stressful!" How rude of me! But honestly, I'm human, and I think a lot of us think this way even if we hate to admit it. Then I realized one huge characteristic of God. He is like the main and most important stop light of our lives. He's also a traffic guard, but an exceptional traffice guard. Not only can he see this intersection, but he can see the one down the street, and the one after that, and the one we will encounter in twenty years. He can see all the cars on the opposite side, even if it is midnight and not even the stars are lit up. God keeps us from getting into huge car wrecks. This realization, even for me, is hard to swallow, especially when I feel like I am in the middle of a car wreck.
The day before this I was listening to a radio show and the dj was talking about how God may not always have our best interest in mind. This, I completely disagree with. I think and I believe that God created His earth and His people to know good and to have good, but His 'good' doesn't always look like ours does. Just because I am in the middle of a trial, it doesn't mean He wants me to have 'bad' or know 'bad, He just wants to help me for the future. He just wants to prevent me from getting into a car wreck. I also had a good friend remind me of a story about trees. When trees are in harsh conditions-wind, rain, snow, storms, etc-their roots dig down deep into the earth, hang on, and are stronger for it. It requires a little bit of "weather" to strengthen a person's faith. Now this, I completely agree with.
Only days after this, I watched The Book of Eli; and while gory and graphic, it is a story that everyone should follow. This man walks for thirty years in a westward direction because the Holy Spirit told him to. He is in a dark, desolate, scary, and dreadful place and he is faced with awful weather, but he presses on. I long for a faith and a heart like his. A faith that will cause me to obey in any circumstance and a faith that will give me peace in any and every circumstance.
Again, I'm completely human, with a heart and soul and mind for my God. So these storms and the weather I'm faced with, have a tendency to trouble my heart and my soul and my mind, but I know that my amazing traffic guard is keeping watch, all the time, everywhere, and He DOES have my best interest in mind.
I wrote this a few months ago-notice the Book of Eli reference. But, it was ringing in my ears today. I've seen a lot of doors close around me lately and my dear friend, Helen, reminded me that I can't look at those closed doors like rejection, but protection. God is just protecting me from further going the wrong way....
I was driving home the other night, right about midnight, feeling kinda blue and gloomy. I was stopped at a redlight for what seemed like 30 minutes, and I thought to myself, "Light, if you don't turn green in two short seconds I am gonna just drive through you!" Almost immediately, a little-and might I mention invisable-car zoomed through the light on the other side. Because I'm a bit of a scatter-brain, this really got me thinking...
How often do I look at situations in my life and think, "God, if You don't just fix this right now, I'm gonna do my own thing, and it will be easier and less stressful!" How rude of me! But honestly, I'm human, and I think a lot of us think this way even if we hate to admit it. Then I realized one huge characteristic of God. He is like the main and most important stop light of our lives. He's also a traffic guard, but an exceptional traffice guard. Not only can he see this intersection, but he can see the one down the street, and the one after that, and the one we will encounter in twenty years. He can see all the cars on the opposite side, even if it is midnight and not even the stars are lit up. God keeps us from getting into huge car wrecks. This realization, even for me, is hard to swallow, especially when I feel like I am in the middle of a car wreck.
The day before this I was listening to a radio show and the dj was talking about how God may not always have our best interest in mind. This, I completely disagree with. I think and I believe that God created His earth and His people to know good and to have good, but His 'good' doesn't always look like ours does. Just because I am in the middle of a trial, it doesn't mean He wants me to have 'bad' or know 'bad, He just wants to help me for the future. He just wants to prevent me from getting into a car wreck. I also had a good friend remind me of a story about trees. When trees are in harsh conditions-wind, rain, snow, storms, etc-their roots dig down deep into the earth, hang on, and are stronger for it. It requires a little bit of "weather" to strengthen a person's faith. Now this, I completely agree with.
Only days after this, I watched The Book of Eli; and while gory and graphic, it is a story that everyone should follow. This man walks for thirty years in a westward direction because the Holy Spirit told him to. He is in a dark, desolate, scary, and dreadful place and he is faced with awful weather, but he presses on. I long for a faith and a heart like his. A faith that will cause me to obey in any circumstance and a faith that will give me peace in any and every circumstance.
Again, I'm completely human, with a heart and soul and mind for my God. So these storms and the weather I'm faced with, have a tendency to trouble my heart and my soul and my mind, but I know that my amazing traffic guard is keeping watch, all the time, everywhere, and He DOES have my best interest in mind.
Comments
Post a Comment