Tags
Ducks, Faith, Frustration, God, patience, Perception, Storms, Traffic
Yesterday I was in my car heading to an appointment, driving down a pretty busy highway. I noticed that the traffic the other direction had stopped and that a woman had gotten out of her car. I had just enough time as I was driving by to take in the scene. This woman who had been traveling in the same direction as me had stopped in the turning lane, walked into oncoming traffic to help a mother duck as she led her fluffy little ducklings across the road. I wish I could have watched the whole event play out, but I’m not as brave as this lady to stop in traffic. As I was sitting stopped at the next light I was marveling at what I’d just seen. I felt blessed for being able to witness something like that. Looking in my rearview mirror I could see that the traffic flowing in that direction was still stopped and cars had backed up. I realized how frustrated people must be. I hate being stopped, especially when I can’t see what for. These people are heading to work, and traffic is a horrible start to a day. I wondered to myself if the people in the front of the traffic were upset though. They had a front row seat to this mother duck, her babies, and the lady who helped them. It really was a little touching. I wouldn’t have been upset if I was stopped for something like that, but only if I could see it. The people just two cars back wouldn’t have been able to see anything. The would have been upset because of their lack of understanding of the situation. They could only know what they could perceive. They needed to be at work, but they were stopped in traffic for no apparent reason. That was their reality and it wasn’t wrong, it was just lacking the full picture. The truest, fullest reality was a mother duck trying to get her babies safely across a very dangerous street, and a kind woman who chose to help her out.
Following in this train of thought, I wondered how often I get upset about things in life, but only because I can’t see the bigger picture. How often does the traffic flow of life have to stop so that something can be accomplished. I bet things happen around me all the time and I’m none the wiser. I would think that God does this in our lives on a regular basis. It can be so frustrating and even painful when we’re going along in life and all the sudden things come to a halt, and for what seems like no reason at all. It happens. Perhaps though there are some ducks that need to get safely across the road before we can continue on our way. I need to work on not getting frustrated when I’m stopped, but instead trust that God knows what He’s doing as He directs traffic. He only stops us out of necessity. Either ours or someone else’s, even a few ducks.
Truth