Tag: waiting

Washed Out Road

God, Inspiration, trust, patience

The area we stopped in for the night was under a heavy rainfall advisory.

The forecast for the areas we’d be traveling in over the next couple of days didn’t look good so we decided an early start in the morning would be our best option for getting ahead of the weather.

Long before daylight we were on the road again. An hour later, we came to a complete standstill. All we could see in the darkness was a long line of tail lights ahead of us.

We turned the motor off and waited for things to start moving again. The night faded into morning light. A cold wind permiated the van and we got blankets from the back to wrap around us.

When we heard a washout had occurred ahead, we knew we could be there for hours. Since there was nothing we could do but wait, we decided to make ourselves comfortable. We moved to the back of the van, turned the furnace on and relaxed. After playing a couple of games of cribbage we made lunch.

Instead of stressing about the delay, I wondered what God was protecting us from by holding us back. We were safe, warm and had food, water and a bathroom so knew He was taking care of us. Later we learned of jackknifed semis and multiple accidents due to icy roads.

Almost five hours later a police car came by to announce the road was open to one lane traffic and we could proceed. I was surprised to find that the actual washout was 140 km from where we had been stopped.

This situation reminded me how God uses what I think of as delays in my life. He provides what I need to stay safe while He works to clear the road in front of me. Sometimes the work is done much farther ahead than I realize.

My role is to be patient and trust that God has everything under control.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,and lean not on your own understanding ” Proverbs 3:5 NLT

Doors of Life

God, guidance, patience, inspirationOne of my volunteer roles at a recent seminar was to open the doors at the start of each session to allow the participants to enter. As strange as it seems, this simple task pointed out some life lessons to me.

There were two main sets of doors to enter the training room. Line-ups formed at the closest set of doors, while the other set, just steps away, had few people using them. I realized that the majority of people follow the crowd. The ones that bypassed the line-up and walked to the second set of doors shook their heads in disbelief that so few thought to do this.

The metaphor was not lost on me. I wondered how often in life I have waited in line, following the crowd, when I could have moved ahead quickly if I’d taken the time to look for another open door.

The second thing I realized is that there is usually a reason for closed doors. In this case it was because there were preparations for the next session going on behind those doors. That’s why participants were asked not to enter until the doors were opened for them.

I thought of the many times in my life I’ve been frustrated because the door I wanted to walk through was closed. Perhaps the closed doors were there because I had more to learn before I would be ready to go through them. Maybe I was trying to do too much in my own strength rather than waiting for guidance from God.

All I know for sure is that the plan is not my own. My job is to be aware of the doors before me and learn from both the open and closed ones. I have faith that God will open the right doors for me as I walk closely with him and pay attention to his leading.

The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act.( 2 Peter 3:9 GWT)

%d bloggers like this: