Merging Traffic

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very morning I leave my house and head toward the university to teach my students and work in the office. Like my mother, I am a morning person so getting up early is just a natural part of the day.  I might also mention that it is the calmest part of the day as well.

I leave the house about 6:30 a.m. and drive to the Interstate.  To this point, the drive is very tranquil.  There are few cars on the highway this time of morning and most of the homes I pass are still sleeping, their occupants wringing the last drops of sleep from the night before the stark light of day gently pushes over the eastern horizon.

I make a right-hand turn onto the access road and ease my way onto the entrance ramp.  This is just about the time my morning turns into a battle zone.  Suddenly, I am surrounded by all types of vehicles barreling down the Interstate at break-neck speed.  Inside, people are drinking coffee, listening to the radio, or talking on cell phones (guilty as charged!!).  It really is a dog-eat-dog mentality on the Interstate but the best part is yet to come.

After successfully entering the flow of traffic, I settle into one of the lanes and begin the twenty-minute drive to the city of Arlington. Along the way, I pass several entrance ramps and as luck would have it the whole state of Texas is attempting to enter my lane.  Although the signs clearly indicate there will be merging traffic ahead, they never prepare me for the number of entering cars nor the mentalities of their drivers.  I just have to keep a keen eye open and make my way, dodging and swerving when necessary, through the merging traffic and on to my destination.

If you’ve every driven an Interstate or if you drive one frequently, you know exactly what I am talking about, don’t you?  Yet, we never stop to think just how closely Interstate driving and traffic mirrors the road of life which we walk every day.  The signs along this road tell us that from time to time we will encounter merging traffic, situations that come into our lives for which we are unprepared and which cause us to dodge and swerve when we would rather remain in the comfort of our lane.

The book of Job is perhaps the best place to see this phenomenon in action.  This book is not the most uplifting book of the Bible, especially if several difficulties occur in our lives at once.  However, it is a great book to demonstrate that God is aware of our situations and that his faith in us extends to every situation which he allows in our lives.  The promise that God will not place more on us than we can bear is borne out in Job’s story.

This morning, I would invite you to open your Bible to Job1:13-22, or you can simply click on the scripture link to read the verses online.  Please notice these verses record several unfortunate events that happened simultaneously in the life of Job.  Job’s day started as all the others had.  He was enjoying life’s road, secure in the lane he was taking when all of a sudden four huge semi’s merge into his lane.  Notice that four messengers arrive, each bearing bad news and that the news grows steadily worse as the messages arrive.  This merging traffic into Job’s life forces him to change lanes, to weave around heartache, disappointment and grief.

Job’s reaction is one of deep sorrow.  He shaves his head and tears his robe, outward signs of his inward turmoil.  Yet, Job states in the closing verses of this passage that God is in control, that it is the Lord’s right to give and the Lord’s right to take away and Job blesses the Lord’s name.

Sometimes I don’t believe we quite appreciate Job’s deep faith in God.  When the car breaks down or if we lose $100 in a parking lot somewhere, we often quip “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.”  While this is true, we need not think that our present condition mirrors that of Job’s situation.  Job knew the Lord. His knowledge came from worshiping and walking with God on a daily basis.  Job wasn’t making a flippant statement or trying to be profound.  His statement reflects a man full of confidence in God because he knows God to be his confidant, his sustainer, his provider, his defender, and his friend.  Do we know God like this?

Wherever you are today along life’s road, be ware of merging traffic.  It will come.  The signs point to it but it usually shows up when we least expect it.  It is my prayer for you today that you will rely on God when traffic is merging and that you will let him lead and guide you through all the circumstances of your life today!