Traffic Lights and God's Timing

Do you remember back when you were first learning to drive?

For myself, one of my worst fears was that the traffic light would turn yellow as I was approaching or crossing the intersection. I can remember asking my mom what I should do in that scenario. Her response was something along the lines of saying the decision had to be made in the moment; you had to use discernment to either speed up or slow down.

I didn't like that answer. I wanted a hard fast "this is how you know whether to go or slow" rule of thumb. The using your judgment thing scared me.

I could just see myself braking square in the middle of an intersection (which I'm sure I tried to do a couple times), or coming to a safe stop entirely TOO soon, making drivers behind me mad.

In time, she was exactly right, and as I got more driving experience, the decision was nothing more than natural.

Even though I'm not a "new Christian," of course I'm still learning how to walk with God (way harder than driving with people!) - and sometimes I think I demand of Him a hard fast rule of thumb for what I'm supposed to do in scary situations that may come up in the future. "If I could just know in advance, Lord, what I'm supposed to do that would be great. Let me know Your will ahead of time so I can write it down, meditate on it, practice it; then I'm sure it will come to me quickly for those decisions when I need it."

The mediating on His will and wanting to be prepared sounds good, but that mentality highlights our flawed thinking in two ways:

1. There are no "certain situations" where His direction would "come in handy." It's 24/7. It's Him running the show.
2. A lot of the time, God requires us to act in faith. No formulas to apply to ease the scariness or the pain, no getting things figured out ahead of schedule. Then what would we need Him for? God requires us to do scary stuff. Like letting go. Like driving blind.

God will often lead us into situations solely for the purpose of seeing what shape our reliance is in. When we are completely leaning on Him in trust, then He will shed light on the way for us to go. Not before. His timing always has meaning. And sometimes the lesson for you is that faith is strongest moment by moment.