Traffic jams and a lesson in patience

Today, waiting at an intersection while an endless stream of cars passed by, all eating into precious time for getting to swimming lessons, I caught myself sighing and then definitely frowning. Well actually my boys caught me frowning. I was unashamedly impatient. In that moment, a song then came to mind. A song from my childhood, from Music Machine about yes you guessed it, patience.

So humour me here, imagine a snail, in fact a snail named Herbert singing this chorus…

Have patience, have patience
Don’t be in such a hurry
When you get impatient, you only start to worry
Remember, remember that God is patient, too
And think of all the times when others have to wait for you

It’s bad enough – hard enough sometimes, waiting at intersections, checkout counters, and yes waiting for my coffee, but what about the times when we wait for the fulfilment of a dream – of a promise from God? When the wait becomes a weight, a burden that we are to carry.

Don’t despair – no visible signs of progress does not mean that God is not working behind the scenes. Often we look for the miracle moment, forgetting that the breakthrough is actually just another step of many. Rather like the seasonally dormant egg, where the visible cracking of the egg just happens to be the final step. God is already in motion, preparing for breakthrough.

In this place of waiting, it’s important to keep our hearts open and full of hope. We need to stay in hope and expectation for the fulfilment of God’s promise. For waiting in the Bible is as much about hope as it is about waiting. But we have good reason to be able to stay in hope because He who promises is faithful.

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)

And one day after waiting and waiting, suddenly what you’ve been waiting for happens.

I remember my Father used to say at intersections, “in the biggest traffic there is always a gap.” Sometimes we just have to be patient and hang in there a little longer.