It was early and I was late—as usual.
I grabbed the box of supplies for my monthly writer’s critique meeting off the kitchen table and raced for the back door. A beeping noise invaded the quiet of the morning hours. What was it? I didn’t have time for interruptions. The troublesome sound stopped so I dismissed it and hurried out the back door. I threw everything in the car and slammed the door shut, revved the engine, and backed out of the drive-way.
I had thirty minutes to complete a forty-five minute trip. No margins. Just drive with a purpose—get there.
We live twenty-five miles outside of the city so I could make up time on the country highways—I hoped. It was early on Saturday morning. No traffic and no police—I hoped. I could be on time—I hoped. Things were going well when that pesky beeping sound filled the car.
Where did it come from this time? I checked my cell phone. Nope. Wasn’t the phone.
I punched all the digital instruments on the dashboard. Nothing. The beeping continued. I was alarmed. The car had a lot of miles and a history. It was a desolate stretch of road. What should I do? Pull to the side of the road? Wake my husband and call for help? Any of the above could be dangerous and cause me to miss the meeting. I threw caution aside and decided to go for the meeting.
The beeping stopped. I sighed with relief, then a few moments later realized it was the automatic timers stuffed into my supply box announcing their time limit warning.
I had run right through the first beeping sounds in the kitchen. Had I heeded those warnings and identified the source, it would have solved the problem.
How many times have I run through God’s warning signals in my life? How many trips to God’s woodshed could I have avoided, and how many unnecessary life detours have I taken that God warned me about as I blasted through His stop signs?
Perhaps if I left margins in everyday life—a safety margin of time that allowed for adjustments to the unexpected—then I would take the time to stop and listen. No, I think the problem rests with my pride. The subtle sin of believing, I can handle everything—I’ve got it under control. The sin of believing what I’m doing is so important that I must fill every moment of every day to capacity, giving God the left-overs. The sin of believing that what I’m about is so important that I don’t have a moment to spare.
Failure to start my day sitting before the Lord God, seeking His understanding, receiving His instructions, and asking for His wisdom places me in the precarious position of believing a lie. Fooling myself with the untruth that I am in control of everything and don’t need His guidance for the day. I trouble my own trouble.
How about you? Do you listen when God warns you to stop, slow down, or turn around? Or do you just run faster in order to build momentum to catapult over His warning hurdles?
“Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10
MOVING THE ANCIENT BOUNDARIES 