Lessons from a Traffic Jam

Bottlenecking is a testament to human depravity.  It seems most people revert to preschool rules when they see a highway narrow to one lane.  

All the kids are present.  The quiet kids, who follow all the rules, see the signs and make the necessary adjustments as quickly and orderly as possible.  The line-cutters zip in and out of traffic trying to get a better position while ignoring all the people who have been patiently waiting their turn.  The foot-draggers slowly join the procession. Traffic jams up as the line-cutters and foot-draggers decide to join the others.  

The line-cutters are jockeying for position.  They want to be first in line, without having to plan or prepare.  They don’t mind pushing their way to the front.  They don’t care how long everyone else has waited.  The rules don’t apply to them.  They’re special.

Their cousins, the foot-draggers, don’t care about anyone else, either.  They don’t want to be in the line.  They appear to be torn between cutting the line and following the rules.  They don’t want to be as rude as the line-cutters, but they hate being forced to do something against their will.  The line represents submission, and their wills balk, because they are special.

Somewhere in the mix is a bitter minority that wishes the other people would just play by the rules so everybody can get to where they are going a little faster.  They try to avoid getting angry at the line cutter who buzzes past them and forces his way into the line fifteen cars ahead of them.  Does he not realize that other people have been waiting in this line for the last thirty minutes?  Then there is that guy who won’t get over because he’s undecided.  Does he assume that another lane will open if he just waits long enough?

The clamoring for position in a traffic jam reflects the clamoring for position in the rest of life.   We may fight and strive for significance.  We may bump and nudge our way to advancement.  We may drag our feet when it comes to making commitment.  We may become bitter because others have pushed themselves ahead of us.  

When we are in Christ, we don't have to clamor for significance.  We have significance because we belong to God in Christ.  God has demonstrated his unconditional love for us by sending the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, to come and die for our sins.  Because of this we don't have to jockey for position.  We don't have to cut ahead of others in life, there is no reason to drag our feet, and no reason to become bitter when we catch others trying to get ahead of us.  Because they cannot displace us.  Their clamoring cannot devalue us before God.

It may take us longer to get where we are going when we get stuck in a traffic jam, but if we patiently persist, we will arrive.  God allows the physical and spiritual traffic jams in our life, so that we can grow in patience.  He also wants us to learn to wait on him.  He is our significance, he is our value, he is our all in all.  And no line-cutter or foot-dragger can ever change that.