THANKFUL THURSDAY...flashing lights

Earlier this week, you may have read about how my son and I got stuck in traffic for 3 hours. We were on our way to meet his friend, who was going to give him a ride back to college in Texas. Jordan had been home on fall break visiting with us.

But an hour and half from our meeting place, we came upon an accident on the highway and the state troopers had the road closed and we got stopped in traffic. We were surrounded by semi trucks. One in front and one in back. After the first hour of waiting, the truck ahead of us still had his red blinking tail lights on.

(see the red lights ... they were like the energizer bunny: just blinking and blinking and blinking!)

Going into the second hour of waiting ... the blinking red lights really were starting to get on our nerves. By the third hour of waiting, the blinking red lights now were an irritant to us. So much so, that my son wanted to get out of the car and go knock on the truck drivers door and ask him to PLEASE turn his red blinking lights off as we were now permanently blind from them!! But after reasoning with my son, we decided it might be a bad idea ... the driver might be compelled to alittle road rage due to the long delay!

We were in a real tight spot. There was nowhere to go. We couldn't go forwards or backwards. We really needed to get to where we were going, Jordan's friend was waiting for us. But all we could do is wait. And wait. And wait.

(Here is Jordan reading a book during our 3 hour delay)

Nobody likes to wait these days...not at traffic lights, or in checkout lanes, or at bus stops, and certainly not in a traffic jam. Waiting is even harder when we are waiting for someone to return home from a far away trip, or wait for the money to come in that is needed to pay a bill, or waiting for a dear loved one to accept Christ.

Waiting on the Lord to act or provide or even heal is really, really hard. But waiting has a purpose. Waiting upon God reminds us of just how much we depend on Him.

I am not really sure what the purpose was for me and Jordan to have to wait in that traffic jam for 3 hours, but I do know that there WAS a purpose. Possibly, we were spared from being in that accident or possibly God knew that we (Jordan and me) needed a few more hours together before he went back to college.

I was thinking about all of the people in the Bible who had to wait...

• Abraham and Sarah
• Joseph
• The children of Israel

Just a few examples of people who were dependent on God showing up. When we wait upon the Lord patiently, He does something really important inside of our souls. Waiting teaches us dependence on God's promises. Often times, God sends out flashing red lights to us, but we ignore them or get irritated with them and continue on our way. Forgetting that God has a master plan and He has our best interest at heart.

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry."  Psalm 40:1

Dear Lord, THANK YOU for the flashing lights that you put in front of me to slow me down. When I try to do things in my own power, I get in a hurry and oftentimes do not seek Your will. You always know exactly what I need, and when I need it. Thank you for the delays and the detours that keep me from swerving from your plan. AMEN.

LYNN  is our THANKFUL THURSDAY host this month,

please visit her and other grateful hearts HERE!