Today’s Deep Thought:  Being trapped sucks.  But if you pay attention, you might just learn something. 

I need to go through a guarded gate to get to work.  There are 2 gates to choose from.  95% of the time I go through the one gate.  But yesterday I felt like I should go to the other one, but I brushed it off and pulled into the turn around like I do most days.  I was the third car in line so I was waiting my turn.  From where I was all needed to do was shoot across the 4 lanes and into the gate.  It was 6:50 am, so I was exactly on time.  Then I notice the traffic beginning to get squirrely and start to back up.  Took me about 30 seconds to see the problem, an accident blocking the middle lane about 50 feet beyond the gate. 

I was literally across the street from work and I couldn’t get there because the accident was backing up the traffic in front of me.  No one was letting people over.  People were honking and screaming and flipping each other off.  It was then I realized I should have listened and gone to the other gate. 

I decided that the easiest way to get out of this situation is to just turn left into the closest lane and then flip back around and drive to the other gate.  Simple right?  Wrong.  The one car in front of me was determined to shoot across 4 lanes of dead stopped traffic to the gate.  So I can’t go forward or turn left.  I can’t back up because there’s a line up behind me.  Trapped!

How many times does this happen in our lives?  We get stuck in a situation that we can do nothing about.  We get trapped by circumstances that may or may not be our fault.  Sometimes we blow up!  Sometimes we want to quit!  Other times we can see the problem and the solution but can’t fix it, so we have no choice but to wait it out.

No matter what it seems like at the time, God’s not trying to frustrate or torture us when we are forced to wait.  He knows that waiting is a process that produces fruit in us.  Romans 5:3-5 says, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance,and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

God loves to bless His children.  He desires to prosper us.  He wants to give us the desire of our hearts.  But He’s much more concerned with our heart attitude and our character than giving us things.  That’s why the waiting is necessary.  It shows us our heart attitude.  It reveals areas that we need to work on.  It shows our maturity and character.  It shows whether or not we REALLY trust God. 

In the case of my delay yesterday, I had to wait for about 15 minutes for the person in front of me to cross the road.  It was a little like Frogger.  I don’t like Frogger because I never actually made it off the first board.  But I digress.  About the 10 minute mark of my 15 minute wait, I lost it.  I was calling everyone around me names.  Obscene ones.  Then I looked up at the sky and asked God how He was able to make it even a single minute without destroying us, because people are really stupid.  Now normally I pray and praise on my commute so that this does not happen.  But not today.   I have to admit I shut my ipod off about that same time, saying now is not the time for “O How He Loves Us” by Kim Walker-Smith & Jesus Culture.  It was actually the perfect time for that song, but again I digress. 

Anywho, the person in front of me FINALLY went I was able to turn left and go around to the other gate.  I pulled into one of the lanes and waited my turn.  When I was the next car I had to wait again for this lady to walk across in front of me.  Then I noticed the man walking with her.  My favorite guard!  He’s friendly and cute and seriously has THE BEST smile.  He could brighten anyone’s darkest day with that smile.  I pulled up at the exact time he was taking his post in my lane.  I may or may not have swooned. 

Then I hear God say, “Don’t curse what I have blessed.  My delays are for your good.  They are for your protection.”

I felt stupid for blowing up over something so stupid as a traffic delay.  I threw a fit like a toddler and swore like a sailor for absolutely no reason.  Ridiculous.

The point of all this is that when you feel trapped, remember Romans 5:3-5.  Remember that you are in process.  Know that God sees the whole picture so you can trust His timing.  Know that if there’s a delay, it’s for your protection, not your harm.  He’s not trying to keep something from you.  He’s making sure you are ready to receive the good He has in store for you.  God has appointed times and seasons for everything.  See Ecclesiastes 3. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%203&version=NKJV

PS:  I want to clarify something.  I’m not saying God caused an accident so that I could see the guard with the great smile.  God doesn’t work that way.  If you think He works that way, you’re wrong.  He doesn’t cause bad things.  Bad things happen all on their own.  But God will take those bad things and turn them for our good.  If I had listened and gone to the other gate in the first place, I’d have been to work on time and there would have been no issue.  But I didn’t.  I got trapped because I didn’t listen.  Then God used that bad situation to teach me something, and blessed me anyway.  He turns things meant for harm around for our good (Romans 8:28).  He’s still good, even when we’re not.

“If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.” -2 Timothy 2:13