Traffic Jam

Dear Anonymous Reader,


Coincidentally, I felt like leaving for work thirty minutes early the other day. As I came over the fairly new flyover (hoorah, traffic convenience), I was promptly introduce to this:

Why, what nice taillights you have

For those of you who don't know, I live in an average-sized city of only 100,000 people, and this, well, never happens.


Until now, of course.


Lucky me.


So I sat there for about five minutes (maybe two and a half). Nothing moved, not even snail-paced, except for the far right lane which was an exit ramp into our miniature downtown. It wasn't too far out of the way, so I impolitely squeezed through the backed-up mass of metal and right as I'm exiting everyone starts moving.


And it's too late for me to turn back on to the main highway.


Great. Unnecessary detour .Woot.


I, unfortunately or not, have a habit of unintentionally finding "life-lessons" in insignificant situations.


I hope I'm not the only one.


We all hit those walls in life. You know, the obvious "I don't know what the crap I wanna do" tweenster years. We all snicker at the thirty year old who still lives with his parents and can't find a stable career. Some anecdotes describe him as a lifeless gamer, others as a bum, but I wonder how many would describe him as the kid that just can't "figure out what he wants to be when he finally grows up."


'Cause for most people, young and old, that's a hard question to answer.


"Grow up!" (unrequested advice given by most angry old people)


I still don't know what that looks like.


If it's the dad with a job he hates, a wife he can't stand, and kids that suck him dry, why would I wanna grow into that?(cause that seems to be the theme nowadays)


Well, Sean (I hear the optimist inform), you don't have to end up like that.


Yeah, I know. But I'm pretty sure that when the old man was in my place, he was thinking the same thing.

"Yeah, that's not gonna be me."

15 years and two mortgages later? SHAHBAM! Not just a traffic jam, an effin' twenty car pile-up.

Dad? I'm pregnant, and Billy Joe ran off with the credit card

It's the unexpected that gets us. And it's the fear of the unexpected that keeps us from doing anything remotely adventurous or effective. I hear about the midlife crisis. I hear about playing it safe. I hear about "security" in a stable career. 

Well, after the last few years, I've realized that nothing is secure and safe. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes you just get screwed (or fired, or blown to bits).

But then again:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” -Jeremiah 29:11-14

Israel was a prime example of the fallen human condition. History inevitably repeats itself. And I don't think it's just because we're "stupid," but I truly believe that it's incredibly difficult to believe and follow some truth you haven't experienced for yourself. Israel would prosper and honor God for a time, but then as a new generation of young people came along that never experienced what their fathers did, they'd get sucked right back into the idol worship of their forefathers that got them thrown into captivity in the first place. Then they'd cry out to God, again, and God would, again, save them. Over, and over, and over, and over.


Nothing's changed.


However, for many traffic jams:

"My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." -Proverbs 3:11, 12

Sometimes a traffic jam is just a traffic jam, in life or on the highway. Sometimes we're in it, and sometimes we're what causes it. Most call it just an accident, something you don't see coming, but at other times, it's something that could have been prevented by right action long before, be it not texting while you're driving along at 70mph, not speeding during a rainstorm (or snowstorm...true story), or just plain watching the road in front of you. Our actions will inevitably affect someone else.

But the real question is, what will you do in those backed up moments when there seems to be no way out? Like me, you could cut across and find an exit ramp, only to have the jam clear up in front of you. The nice thing is, though, that even though I had to detour on the slightly scenic route, I still made it back to the highway I was on in the first place.

There are a lot of thoughts here. But I guess what I'm really trying to say is that when life blocks up and throws a storm your direction, remember to not merely seek the detour, but seek the heart of God, the Master Planner, and what He desires, for in doing that, He "will be found by you."

Just have patience to let Him perform His work in your life, whether that's waiting in the traffic jam until it clears or taking the nearest exit.

-Sincerely

-Sean