Driver’s Ed

In the area where I live, there is a road improvement plan that has been in place for a couple of years now. It’s the kind of plan that has a projected finish date of ten years in the future. As part of this major overhaul of our area, they are expanding a two-lane road to multiple lanes, and adding complex exits/entrances/intersections at the major crossroads.

One of these intersections happens to be on a regular route I take to get my child to preschool twice a week. I like to think of myself as a patient, forgiving, full-of-grace driver. I like to think that other people think that way of me, too. I like to live in a delusional world. As I was en route to preschool one morning, my attitude was less than patient and forgiving as I approached this section of the road. A car pulled up to the left of me and I was convinced that this car (driver), like many others that I have seen, was going to realize that the lane it was currently in morphed into a turn lane and he actually wanted to go straight. When that happened, inexorably said driver would cut in front of me at the last possible moment, and make me *gasp* brake! In all my wisdom and grace, I sped up to be neck and neck with the other car, and waited for the inevitable to happen.

Can you guess what happened? The driver signaled left, continued in the current lane (following the rules of the road) and onto the newly opened exit to the freeway. The driver of my car was left with a gaping mouth. At that moment, I realized that in my own mind I was thinking, “I’m going to teach this driver HOW TO DRIVE!” I’m pretty sure that God was thinking, “I’m going to let you know when it’s time for you to be the teacher, and when it’s time for you to be the student.” I couldn’t help but laugh at myself!

This just brought to mind all the verses about God being our teacher. Some of us are called to be teachers, but not all, and definitely in His timing and not ours. Psalm 28:9-10 (NASB) says, “Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way.” I don’t know about being humble, but He definitely humbled me in that moment. The driver who got the education that day was me.

Jen Chang

loveSTRONG ministries

CCommunications/Technology Leader

www.lovestrongministries.com

Don’t Toss That Highlighter Away Quite Yet.

I love everything about the word SCHEDULE! It’s a beautiful thing, from pulling out my assortment of brightly colored highlighters down to hole punching tabs and papers neatly bound in my three ring binder. I secretly (well, it’s not so much of a secret, anymore) will pull out all my binders and relish in the wonderment of my personal organization. (Then, I quickly put them away before anyone sees me...hee hee.)

But in my life right now, I am in a season of “Wait.” Have you ever been there? Or are you there now? No fun. And certainly goes against everything a SCHEDULE oriented person would prefer. My heart knows that God is with me. I feel Him. I have prayed and taken my personal challenges to Him. Yet, I still wait. Then, I begin to doubt. Not in Him, in me. What am I missing that He is trying to show me? Since I am still waiting, He must be still trying to show me something. What is it? Then, back to prayer I go. It’s this back and forth thing. And while I feel my faith has not waivered and I fully trust His timing is perfect, I still find myself wanting the “How” and “When.” As this wait continued to prolong itself, I began to realize that although my back has never turned on Him, my thoughts still have been focused on what this “Wait” looks like for ME. And here are (at least) 2 things that I am missing…

One: the everyday blessings that He provides us - the smile from a stranger, the moments nature scream His name, the verse that sticks with me as I notice it scroll across my Facebook feed and the timing of a hug from my child. And two: the opportunities He is showing me to be used for others. How am I supposed to hear Him if all I am doing is focusing on what I want from my prayers and when it’s going to happen?

In my season of “Wait,” He is showing me to STOP praying for the “WHEN” and the “HOW” and START praying that He WILL! I am learning to have an expectancy that He is working on my behalf. Period.

A variety of highlighters still rest on my desk. I love them. But now I look at them as little blessings that God knows brings me joy and not look at them as what controls my world. I will WAIT on the Lord and know that His “WHEN” and “HOW” are NOT going to look the way I might expect them to, but will look the way that will bring Him the most glory. Now that was worthy of highlighting.

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeni Barbush
loveSTRONG ministries
Executive Director
www.loveSTRONGministries.com