Revelations in Reflective Lines

  My weekday on Tuesday began like any other day.  I awoke at 5:30 AM, and said a quick prayer before I even stepped out of bed.  Nothing less than ordinary.  Two egg whites and a fresh brewed coffee eased me into my morning commute.

Usually, my commute involves a conversation (or two..she’s technology challenged) with my one of my oldest friends.  It’s good to have someone talk you down from the ledge before you even decide to step up there.  She’s kind enough to let me unburden my heart when she could do other things, and I will always love her for that.  You know how it is; you can’t share everything with everyone. (Oh, the irony as I frantically bang on this keyboard!) Some people will take your secrets and later use them as ammunition when they want to bring you down a peg or 10.  As I got over the river, she signaled that it was time to sign off.  She ended the conversation as she does every morning.  “Stay in prayer,” she said.

I’ll keep it real.  When I’m distressed about something and I want an answer, the last thing I want to hear is “stay in prayer.”  I’m a Type-A chick born in the best decade ever.  We are the generation of Ellen Ripley (Aliens), Sarah Connor (Terminator 2), and Hillary Clinton (????).  We girls can do it all. So waiting for guidance when I’d rather get to the point is not my thing.  Okay? (I'm a "keep it real" kind of girl.)

I get to the most rural part of my commute, and I begin to contemplate the tasks before me that day.  (When I say rural, I mean you’d swear you’re in Greeenbow, Alabama with Forrest and Jen-nay.)  As I crossed over a narrow, two-lane stretch of road, I see a series of bright orange rhomboid road signs.  I knew immediately what that meant.  Delay.  I didn’t feel like tolerating the delay because I was trying to get to my destination as quickly as possible without having to use my air conditioner.

The road signs read.  “Delay ahead.  Road painting.”  Really?!   So before I knew it, I’m directly behind three slow moving vehicles: a pick-up truck with a man riding in the bed (he drew the short stick), what I can only describe as a yellow and black Zamboni, and a large street sweeper-thingy.  I’m not kidding you when I say slow.  If they were going any slower, we would have gone back in time.  Did you know that it takes three slow-moving vehicles to paint those lines on the side of the road?  Yeah, I didn’t either.  When I say road, I’m being generous.  This was a pathway covered by pebbles and black duct tape slicing through ten miles of corn fields and peach orchards. 

I wanted to get mad, but then I just kind of settled in and accepted my situation.  There was no traffic approaching from the opposing lane, and I was tempted to cross the double lines.  But my mind kept telling me, “You need to stay in your lane.”  I rolled down my windows and turned up some Donnie Hathaway.   “Hang on to the world as it spins around/ Just don’t let the spin get you down/Things are moving fast/ Just hold on tight and you will last.”

So as I cruised along almost breaching the time/ space barrier, I just focused on the six-foot tall corn stalks and beautiful white flowers with the red centers that covered the road edge.  I chided myself for not noticing the seasons and how they change what happens in nature.  I’m always moving so fast that I forget to appreciate how landscapes change over time.

When you’ve been forced to slow down, you’re also forced to look around you.  There’s literally nothing else to do.  

But as the heat in my car built and the bugs started zooming through my car, I became frustrated.  I thought to myself, “Those reflective lines aren’t even really necessary.  This is a country road that nobody uses.”

Then I heard it.  “You’re using this road.”  And I got really quiet because I knew what was happening.

Without warning, the phone conversation that I’d had only 20 minutes earlier came back to me.  I remember specifically saying to my friend, “I’m tired of waiting for a resolution to this.  I wish I could just get an answer as opposed to suffering through this.  It’s so clear that Stevie Wonder could see it.

My friend’s response?  “When God is ready for you to move, you’ll know. Until then, remember your journey, how far you’ve come, and know that He’s been the author all along.”

Then it all became clear.  As I rolled slowly along on that road, I realized that although I had a destination and an arrival time in mind, God had allowed me to be delayed for a reason.  Correction, He slowed me down.  But why?

I looked again at everything that had grown so tall and lush in perhaps the most beautiful summer I could remember.  He slowed me down so I could see this.  To see that everything has a season with a purpose.  At that moment, I realized that I was in a season of immense spiritual growth, but I’d been too busy being type-A to realize it. God was trying to get my attention.

“ Slow down and look at where you’ve come from.  You shouldn’t be alive or clothed in your right mind, but here you are.  Who would believe that the crops surrounding you were once seedlings that head to struggle through cold and unforgiving land?  Did they quit or question the process?  They grew and adapted in the manner which they were designed.”

OK, God.  Cool. 

Despite what was happening, my mind wandered back to annoyance. I thought, “The lines at the edge of the roadway aren’t really that important, anyway.  Who needs them?”

God answered back quickly.  “You do.”

“Say what?” I thought.

“This narrow road that you’re on will not always be bathed in sunshine.  You can see the rise in the road and the hills beyond it because the day lights your path.  You want to hurry because you think you can see what’s ahead. But you will encounter a time of darkness, just like the seasons.  And in that time of darkness, you will not see the rise in the road or the hills beyond it.  In the time of darkness you must use the light I’ve placed within you to find the guide I’ve placed along the road.  In times of darkness, you will be scared, unsure, and maybe even desperate, but if you heed my guide, you will have no fear because of the path I’ve prepared for you.  Trust me.  Look at where I’ve brought you from.  Look at what you survived.  Do you really think that you mean so little to me, that I would let you suffer?

"Hide My Word in your heart, and in times of darkness, it will light the way and cast out all darkness.  You will boldly go because you walk by faith and not by sight.  Faith comes hearing and hearing by the Word of God" (2 Cor. 5:7 and Romans 10:17)

Then something came into my mind, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, light on my path” (Psalm 119:105)  And then another scripture came to mind, "Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:11)  

 I’ll be honest.  I kind of broke down at that point because I got my burning bush right there as I traveled at 3 miles an hour.  Right as I'm about to get out of the car and have an ugly cry the painting crew pulls over in unison and waves me around.

 For reasons that only He knows, God is slowing me down and preparing me for the next phase of this process.  What I do know, is that I am equipped for whatever comes down this road that I'd rather not be on, and I'm grateful that God took the time to answer the questions that I was too afraid to ask.