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PROGRAM D-7507
I’m talking about God’s stop and go lights. He gives us clear signals and when we miss them or disobey them, we find ourselves in trouble. I tend to think that if I’m not going, I’m not doing the right thing. But often God gives me a stop light, and I need to learn that stop lights are in God’s will for me, just like go lights are.
Do you remember Peter on the mount of transfiguration, when Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus? The light dazzled them and Peter didn’t know what to say, but he talked anyway, and said, “This is terrific. We should be doing something—let’s build three shrines here to memorialize this occasion.” Peter had big plans and thought surely God and everyone else would be impressed.
But the voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Or, in other words, “Please be quiet, Peter; you don’t know what to say so why are you talking. This is not a time to build; it’s a time to listen.” Peter wanted to go; God said stop.
And then I think of Martha who told the Lord it was time for Mary to cook—to get in that kitchen and do something. But Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen the better way, the way of listening and learning and spending time in his presence. That was hard for Martha to understand because she thought the person who was working the hardest was the one doing the right thing. Jesus taught her: “Be still, Martha, and know that I am God.”
Have you been going and going, trying to make things happen on your own, ignoring God’s stop signals? Waiting is hard, isn’t it? But all of us have to spend some time in God’s waiting room, learning to look up at his cloud and wait for his signal, learning to trust him.
Waiting is difficult for me because I don’t like the unknown, because I want everything in neat little rows, no problems left unsolved. Waiting is hard for me when I think I know the right solution and can see no benefit in waiting for it to happen. Waiting is hard for me because I tend to be a controlling person, and I want everything to be on schedule—my schedule, that is.
When I take a closer look, I have to conclude that my problem is I don’t want to let go and trust God. I’m afraid to trust God. It is a false trust in myself.
If you tend to go on God’s stop lights, I want to encourage you to remember that the waiting room is not wasted time; it is where you need to be sometime while God is making your path straight.