Speaking in the Light – 6-9

Today I was stuck in traffic and it has seemed like forever. As a matter of fact, I don’t think we moved even five inches forward for a whole hour. We were just outside of New York, on the Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge.
And believe it or not, I was heading to of all places, Yankee Stadium, with my good friend Tom. I am not a Yankees fan in any sense of the word. To be honest, I really despise them.
And today they just happened to be playing the Baltimore Orioles, another team that I care very little about. So what was I doing there trapped in a vehicle on a hot June day with not the slightest hint that any time soon we would be on our way?
I was there because Tom asked me to go with him and being with him- and spending all that time together was way more important than what we were doing.
Way too often, we put too much emphasis on the “what” we are doing and the “where” we might be doing it, and not enough on the “who” we might be getting the chance to doing it with. I have been learning lately that any day I can spend quality hours with somebody I care about is a very good use of time no matter what the outer circumstances may be.
Tom and I talked the entire journey up and all the way home. He also gave me the thrill of riding up the Garden State Parkway from Cape May County- both to and from the Bronx in a convertible. This was the longest trip I had ever taken with the top down and I have to say I loved it.
And while in the past I might have been stressed out by the inconvenience of not moving a single smidge for over an hour, today it just didn’t matter. We kept talking and laughing and sharing stories with one another. All the while doing it under bright blue skies on a beautiful day that we got to go to the old ballgame together.
I have to share with you another pretty cool insight that God gave me during our adventure today. When we were rendered useless as statues on the road in the vehicle, it was very tempting to attempt to turn around and go back because of the never-ending wait.
Rumors were flying amidst the stranded travelers that the GWB had been shut down on both levels and nobody knew when it would be open again. It could be hours. If this were true, we would miss the game. Now while I wasn’t about to break out in tears over that result, I still knew how much it meant to Tom and began to say a little prayer that somehow the Lord could please get things moving just a bit.
This is where the lesson came. We turned the radio on to the local station WCBS News Radio 88. The voice on the other end had indeed confirmed that the George Washington Bridge had been closed but now informed us via their eye in the sky that things were now open and if we could be patient, the traffic would be moving soon.
Now from our vantage point nothing had changed. We were still stuck. We were still motionless. It could have been very easy to react and operate judging only by what we were seeing, and we weren’t seeing any change to our surroundings at all. Minutes continued to pass, and still motionless.
It raised questions in our mind that the report we were given via the airwaves could not have been true. Nothing had changed. Then maybe 45 minutes later, slowly but surely the people were getting back into their cars and putting the transmissions back into drive, we were making progress once again.
What’s the point?
What the eye in the sky saw clearly wasn’t visible on the ground until some time later. We had to trust that even though our eyes saw nothing yet, the report given to us by somebody who had a better vantage point than we did was accurate.
There was hope that soon we would be moving even though the signs weren’t experienced yet. We had to fight the temptation to give up and keep our eyes pealed to the horizon so we could get up when the answer came. And when it did- we were glad we hung in there and didn’t move based on our feelings but placed our faith firmly that the words shared with us would soon be facts. And we smiled broadly when we finally moved again.
Are you feeling like you are stuck in the traffic of life? Are you discouraged because you are not moving as quickly as you would like? Are you making major life decisions based upon your limited view of the horizon? God is our eye in the sky that has a much bigger and fresher perspective on things than we do who are caught right smack dab in an earthly traffic mess.
It is so easy to give up when you don’t see things in action as fast as you would expect them to be.
But rather than get stressed out and overheat on the highway, turn your gaze to the One who has a better view and ask Him what to do. He just might tell you to stay put for just a little while longer because things will be in motion soon and when the road clears, you will be ready to move.
He might also just remind you that rather than waste the moments that you are holding steady, why not engage and invest in those you are holding steady with? You might have been stuck together for a reason. And that reason might very well be to get closer while you can.
Thanks for the adventure Tom. I truly had a great day, and even with the traffic. it was great to be stuck with you. And thanks God for being so much bigger than what we see, that You see and in your vision, we can have a glorious future, if we will just trust your voice.
Write Pastor Rudy pastorrudytlc@comcast.net
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