Traffic Jams

Patience is a virtue.

 

Apparently.

 

I found myself in a traffic jam today - a completely solid-not-at-all-moving traffic jam.  And the most annoying thing was that I was less than a quarter of a mile from my destination.

 

We all sat still for about 5 minutes with absolutely no movement and then the driver of the car behind me got out to see what was going on.  He got back in and shrugged his shoulders.  We were all stuck, but we didn't know why.

 

Luckily, I had stopped at a crossroads.  So, rather than wait in the jam, I took a turning down a side road and thought that I could get around the problem.

 

I beetled down the side road, but as soon as I got to the end, I met another jam - there seemed to have been an accident which was causing congestion all around the area.

 

I am one of those people who hates to stay still when they are stuck in traffic.  I would far rather drive further out and travel around the problem, looking for alternatives, instead of just sitting still and waiting.

 

I don't like just being still and waiting for something to happen.

 

I think it's because I don't like feeling powerless.

 

And I have the same approach to situations in life too: I don't like waiting for things to happen.  I don't like being still.  I like to be active and in control.

 

The Bible says,

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him."

[Psalm 37:7 NIV]

 

I tend to interpret this verse as "Keep busy and active and search for alternative routes/solutions, just in case the Lord doesn't pull through in time."

 

I take my traffic-jam mentality and apply this to waiting for situations to resolve, or for God to answer prayers or 'show up'.

 

I don't wait and I certainly don't wait patiently.

 

But in all the busyness, in all the time that I am driving around frantically searching for alternative routes, I never get there any faster and I usually get worked up if I don't seem to be getting anywhere.  Maybe I'm missing the point: maybe God tells us to be quiet and to wait patiently for Him, because He has a solution and an answer and we won't get there any faster by searching for alternative routes.

 

Maybe the point of being still and quiet is so that we don't get stressed out or worked up and we can relax, instead, because it's all in His hands.

 

 

Queuing

Queuing.

Along with having a stiff upper lip, a fondness for tea and a propensity to talk about the weather at any given opportunity, us Brits are known for queuing.

Regardless of the reason, we are excellent at forming a perfectly neat line and patiently waiting our turn.  In fact, for big events - the release of the 7th Harry Potter book, the Diamond Jubilee, The Royal Wedding, for example - we will make an event of queuing itself by taking tents and picnics and setting ourselves up well in advance of the actual event.

I was lucky enough to be on The Mall on the Saturday of the Jubilee weekend.  Whilst we enjoyed the concert, part of the fun of the day was the hour or so we had beforehand, waiting for it to start.  Everyone was very friendly and chatty and there was a feeling of excitement and anticipation.  There were lots of people who had even camped out over night and lined The Mall with their patriotic tents, picnics and Pimms.  Everyone was having a brilliant time, even waiting for the main event.

We enjoyed waiting.

In the last week, I have been in several queues, mainly in different shops.  I have had to wait no more than three minutes (one as short as fifteen seconds) at any of these different checkouts but, on several occasions, the cashier has apologised for the fact that I have had to wait.

This seems to go against the very thing that the British were made to do.  Obviously no one likes queuing for an unnecessarily long time especially in a shop on a sunny day.  But do we really mind waiting that much?

My first reaction would be to say no, but when it comes to prayer and waiting for God to respond, it is rather a different matter.

I can be patient in a 'real' queue, I can chat to the people around me who are also waiting, I can even enjoy myself waiting in line.  But I never seem to apply the same principles to when I'm waiting for God.  I'm not particularly patient, I don't often talk to people in a similar situation and I certainly don't enjoy myself.

I think part of the difference is that in a real queue you can at least see it moving; no matter how slowly, there is a feeling of progress as you wait.  But when we pray and wait for God, there can sometimes feel as if there is no progress at all.  And that's when we have to stop relying on our own understanding and trust with hope that God is doing something behind the scenes.

"Wait, Israel, for God.  Wait with hope.  Hope now; hope always!"

[Psalm 131:3 MSG]

I think I would do well to make the following verse my mantra when I find myself in a spiritual 'queue':

"God, the one and only - I'll wait as long as he says.  Everything I need comes from him, so why not?"

[Psalm 62:1 MSG]

Why not indeed.