Traffic and sovereignty

After a peaceful night of sleep you awaken to the abrupt noise of your alarm. Startled and disoriented, you hit the snooze button and pull the warm covers over your face. Your eyelids droop shut as you doze off into a cozy dreamland.

Minutes later you hear an intruder knocking loudly at your door. “Wake up!” You grunt, rub your eyes, skip your shower,  pour some cereal, spill your milk, can’t find a napkin, use your sleeve, brush your teeth, jump in the car and drive off…

School begins in ten minutes and traffic is heavy. The guy in front of you is going 15 miles under the speed limit and there is absolutely no room to pass him. You clench your teeth as you miss yet another light.

Your patience is just about to run out. You can feel the blood boiling in your head. Finally, there is room to pass him. You speed by and honk your horn as you tear down the street. All of a sudden you spot a police car behind you.

As the saying goes: “the best safety feature in your car is the rearview mirror with a police car in it.” You step on the brakes and slowly roll to a depressing stop.

Out of the corner of your eye you see the slowpoke roll up on your left. Wondering who goes 15 miles under the speed limit, you turn and glare at him. Staring you straight in the face is your pastor. You jerk back your head and pretend like an eyelash is stuck in your eye. You can almost feel the awkwardness in the air as you fuss with the radio dial. Finally, after what seems like forever, the light turns green…

A few weeks ago I heard the following quote: “Patience is what you expect from the guy in the car behind you, speed is what you want from the guy in front of you.” Though I’ve had my driver license for less than a year, I’ve already experienced impatience when it comes to driving. There are a plethora of frustrations when it comes to maneuvering the roads. Quite simply, I am not a fan of traffic.

However, before we speed on by let’s stop and consider traffic from a heavenly perspective. Romans 8:28 says: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.“

In His sovereignty, God works “all things” for the good of you and me… that includes traffic. Yes, even something as chaotic as traffic is orchestrated by God.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes.”

All across the world, God is masterfully orchestrating traffic to accomplish His good pleasure. Sure the car in front of you is slow, but maybe God is keeping you from an accident five minutes ahead.

So the next time you’re on the road, take comfort in the fact that God is sovereignly using traffic to bring about your good. He has precisely planned out when you will arrive at your destination. God is so much bigger than traffic. God is sovereign and God is good.