Traffic Lights

Scriptures: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious heart. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

This morning, on my way to the office, I noticed that the traffic on the freeway was bad. So I made an executive decision and took a local route to come to the office. On the way, I found myself sometimes racing for a green / yellow light and sometimes pacing to avoid stopping at a red light.

I knew that traffic lights were regulators that control the flow of traffic. I had every intention of keeping the traffic law. But, somehow I just didn’t want to be regulated by these lights. Why did I drive like that this morning? As I pondered on this more, I think I didn’t want to stop. I would like to keep moving. Stopping somehow gave me a feeling of getting stuck, a sense of helplessness that I wanted to avoid.

I think that was the reason I got off the freeway in the first place. I didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of the traffic and not being able to get to the place at the time I like. I wanted to do things my way. But the sense of restlessness bothered me. So, I did a quick prayer to ask our Lord to calm my heart and to remind me that He is still in control. The thoughts of Him brought peace back to my heart.

Driving is a lot like our life. It is full of situations where we can be rushed into actions and decisions. We thought we need to jump into actions right away, but we did so without examining our hearts first, without consulting with our Lord first, and without checking the instructions He has for us first. In short, we like to have things our ways. We forgot that it was this tendency that got the entire mankind into this trouble we are in today.

Our adversary would want us to believe that there’s no time to waste on praying and on consulting with our Lord; there’s no time to waste on checking with what the Word of God has to say about things we are contemplating. It would want us to believe that we can do all things on our own. “Where there is a will, there is a way.” But it doesn’t say what that way leads to.

The problem with this picture is there’s no God in it. There’s only us and the problem / situation. Our wisdom and strength are the only resources we choose for resolution. And, as much as we believe we are working hard to take care of the problems, to bless others, even sacrificially, we find ourselves restless, helpless and hopeless. There’s no peace in doing so, nor was there joy. Just work!

Apostle Paul told us that “Do not be anxious of anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) Note how we are not expected to be anxious in anything and to be willing to approach the Mercy Seat with prayers and petitions for everything. Nothing is the extent we should be anxieties about and everything is the extent to which we should bring to our Lord. This includes driving, parenting, building our families, serving in the church, planning for careers and retirements, and others.

I am glad that I was reminded to come back to Him and that I was reminded to stay focused on Him who alone was the source of all peace and hope we ever need. Yes, going to work on time is important. But being at peace with Him and with ourselves in all circumstances will be more important because it will be a blessing to us and to others around us, too. That’s what we all strive for, isn’t it?

Prayer Requests:
For those stuck in traffic

Prayer:
Father, thank You for the blessings and all conveniences technologies have brought us. As we sail through this journey called life, help us to remember that all tools and technologies are there so our lives in Your Son Jesus Christ can be made more visible to this lost generation. We ask that Your Spirit continue to comfort and strengthen us, make sure that the love and peace we have in Jesus can saturate and permeate in our lives so we can be Your blessings for all! In the precious name of Your Son, Jesus, we pray, Amen!