Crossroad (The Blessing of Being Kept Safe While Frustrated)

There’s a saying out there: delay is not denial. I don’t know about you, but those words can really chap my hide. Perhaps you’re more patient and enlightened than I am. Perhaps you have a handle on life situations. But are there any of you out there who are as annoyed by that statement as I am?

File this under work in progress stuff?

Looking at this image of a mother duck leading her little goslings reminds me of the scriptures, Luke 13:34; Matthew 23:37:

“…how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”

Jesus, in His tremendous love for Jerusalem (and really, on a broader scale, for all of us), declared a desperate, frustrated plea. He wanted to gather and protect us…from what, though? Was He trying to protect us from danger, from circumstances, from ourselves, maybe?

You know another quote out there as well; we can be our own worst enemies.

Sigh here with recognition of the unflattering truth.

Patience has never quite been my strong suit. I was always the kid who was trying to see inside wrapped Christmas presents, just hoping that, perhaps I “accidentally” tore the wrapping paper enough to see what was inside. Greed drove my patience, but so did anxiety as well. Can you relate?

When I was a kid in my physical education class, anxiety was my word of the day. I dreaded the class because, uncoordinated me knew I was horrible at playing most games and sports. I carried anxiety with me as my physical education teacher tried to expose us child hooligans to different things, like shuffleboard and bowling, things other than tag and kickball. She gave a valiant effort to turn us into renaissance hooligans. Somehow, however, I don’t think that particular dream of hers was ever fully realized.

Anyway, one such attempt at enlightenment was when we were introduced to archery. That’s right. Nine and ten year old kids walked into a gym one fine school day to see bullseye targets at the far end of the gymnasium and shooting stations twenty to thirty feet away from the targets, holding a bow and a set of arrows.  

I thought, how bad could it be? There was no running, after all. Just point and shoot.

As the rowdy bunch of us hooligan goslings chatted and oohed over this new game, our physical education teacher was trying to instruct us- and warn us about the dangers of archery. Just because it was a game, and maybe even a fun game, at that, didn’t, however, mean that we could just bulldoze our way a-shooting. Not unless some of us wanted to wear an arrow through a particular limb or achieve some unintentional ear piercing of our own.  

As much of a drag as it was to listen to the teacher, it was necessary. She informed us of the importance of shooting your five arrows at the target when she blew her whistle. And once you’ve shot all of them, you’re to remain at your station until everyone is finished or she again blows her whistle, whichever one comes first. Simple, right?

But, inevitably, someone, after their arrows were shot, would “forget” and start heading for the target to pick them up. That’s right. While arrows are still whizzing by, there’s a nine or ten year old hooligan trekking for the bullseye. Perhaps he or she forgot the warning. Perhaps he or she was caught up in the excitement. Perhaps he or she was too impatient to wait. Or, maybe, like me, there were kids who were just too anxious, wanting to get the session over with as soon as possible. Whatever the case, it would be no more than a few seconds before the whole class would hear a shrieking whistle blown and the archery session halted.

And how many of us have had instances when a warning whistle, scream or shout came our way? You may never have had an archery moment, but you probably have had some kind of near miss or close call. Maybe it’s even been in pursuit of some fun or desired thing you went after full steam ahead. Fun and desired things have their place, but what if there’s a danger in  pursuing them? What if what we chase and want requires God’s crossing guard guidance to ensure we’ll get to the other side of the street successfully and safely?

The cliché is true: “be careful what you want because you just might get it. “But we argue back, “I want it NOW!” We whine, “I don’t want to wait.” We think we’re ready and deserving of that coveted thing instantly and immediately, if not sooner.

But God knows the real deal.

He knows every single crossroad in our lives. He knows our desires and thoughts. 

“O Lord, you have searched me

and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O Lord.”

Psalm 139:1-4

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I awake,

I am still with you.”

Psalm 139:17-18

Heck, He even weighs our intentions.

“All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.”

Proverbs 16:2

And, He knows what that thing will do to us.

“Your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.”

Psalm 139:16

Ah yes, not just our immaturity is being assessed, but also our character as well. Wonderful. So, it might do us some good to slow down, even stop, and look to God to guide our next move.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139:23-24

There are a lot of arrows whizzing by us in our daily lives. God is a loving and protecting God, but what if we’re insisting on rebelling against that reality?

In the recovery world, there’s phrase that I’ve personally used and have witnessed in others: “fighting your help.” We often go through interventions, “hit bottoms” and risk our families, lives and health, all because we spend our energy fighting our help. We fight people; we fight God. And that’s always such a brilliant strategy, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, God wants to lavish us with His love and blessings by leading us through His Word. Jesus is the embodiment of that guiding Word. He’s not called “the good shepherd” for nothing, right?

Going back to the image of a mother duck leading her offspring safely across the street, we see how not one of them gets ahead of mama. It’s a simple principle, yet we have such a difficult time heeding it: follow God.

Are we doing that? Or, are we going our own way, quacking in our ignorance, impatience and stubborn ways? Perhaps, not getting what we want is the blessing. Perhaps not obtaining that thing we desire is exactly what we need to keep us safe.

We don’t know the whole story. But God does. And God hasn’t changed His Mind about how it will turn out for us:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11

Don’t let the following statement Jesus uttered be said about you:

“…how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”

Are you darting out on a crossroad without looking for God’s direction? Stop. Look both ways and look to God before you cross that street.

Don’t fight your help; don’t fight God.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

Copyright © 2014 by Sheryle Cruse