delay
Early last month I was on my way to a conference in Dallas, Texas.
We live in Oregon – and as a homeschooling family thought it would be a fabulous idea to make this a road trip… Knowing how road trips tend to be for us (another story… for another time), we rented a car to avoid any car trouble and off we went.
We planned on heading north to Spokane for a night… then through into Montana for another night… and down into Cody, Wyoming for a few days to get a break from driving.
Five days into our trip and we left Cody and were on the final stretch into Dallas, Texas.
I had it all planned out.
We drove more hours the day before so we wouldn’t have too long of a drive getting into Texas. This would give me plenty of time to shower and freshen up before I met with some colleagues and partners for dinner that evening.
It was suppose to be a 4 hour drive from Childress, Texas into Dallas. And, all I can say is that I’m really glad I decided to shower that morning before we hit the road.
One of our crew ended up getting a stomach bug/thing and we had to stop at every. single. rest-stop along the way… doubling our travel time.
DOUBLING OUR TRAVEL TIME.
Being the calm mother/wife that I am… I went straight to Facebook to vent my frustration that we hadn’t planned on an 8 hour drive – only a 4 hour drive. Of course, I “packaged” my post by asking my dear friends to pray that this stomach thing would stop so we could get on with my plan.
I ended up moving my meeting to start a bit later… but, I was still going to be late.
And, not just late… It looked like there would be no way for me to check into the hotel and freshen up first.
After I posted my vent prayer request on Facebook, a dear friend replied with a simple… powerful truth.
“Your delay is God’s protection.”
yeah.
BAM.
One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 3:5-6… you might know it.
“Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”
Throughout my journey in this life, various parts of this verse have spoken louder than others…
But – lately, what is brought into my mind… and what seems to be most applicable to the circumstances in my own life these days is that…
things simply are not how I see them.
What I am seeing and understanding on my path is so limited… and yet, I tend to lean on them and hold onto my persepctive so intently.
Just ask my parents growing up.
If I thought I was right… or I understood something… I wouldn’t back down on my point of view.
It is so easy to base our understanding on what we see in our circumstances, isn’t it?
But, it isn’t about what I see.
“…Lean not on your own understandings.”
I don’t know why we were delayed – other than someone ate something unagreeable to them… Perhaps there was a car accident we missed… It can be easy to speculate – but we will likely never really know.
Since returning from our trip a few weeks ago, this keeps coming to mind though…
“Your delay is God’s protection.”
So many times since our trip I have gotten irritated or frustrated because there was a delay to my plans… and every time I hear:
“Your delay is God’s protection.”
And, I watch for it – because our God?
He is at WORK friends!
He is not unaware of the delay.
He might even have purposed it.
So, again, I’m faced with a minute by minute choice.
I can focus on the delay…
Or, I can live my life expecting God to show up… even in what might seem like the middle of nowhere.
When it comes down to it, it isn’t about what I see.
The question is –
