We spent a couple of days last week in Towson, Maryland, a suburb on the north side of Baltimore. Our hotel was across the street from Towson University, a large and apparently prestigious university I had never heard of. As we were leaving the Baltimore/Washington area on Friday morning, the GPS (we call it Margaret) said "Five minutes have been added to your route."
Then "Three minutes have been added to your route."
Then another "Five minutes have been added to your route."
At one point "Thirteen minutes have been added to your route."
I'm not sure there is any way to avoid delays during the morning rush hour on the Beltway. Maybe we should have left in the middle of the night.
Delays are frustrating. Especially when you just want to get on to your destination.
In this case, however, the delay turned out to be a good thing. Without the delay we would not have ended up at the Chick-Fil-A in Chester, Virginia, at just the right time to have a surprise encounter with a friend from our Connecticut years. So all the threes and fives and thirteens gave us the chance to see little Amy Lozier, now all grown up, married, and a mommy of three!
Life is like that. Full of unexpected delays. Times when we are forced to go at a slower pace than we might like. Times when we have to wait. Times when things don't go according to our plan.
All of that is part of life. And often - not always, but often - one of the benefits of the delays is a serendipitous moment like we had on Friday with Amy. A completely unexpected blessing!
Delays teach us patience. Delays teach us that we are not in control of everything. (Of anything, really!) Delays teach us to wait. Delays especially teach us to wait on God. And to trust His timing.
And that's a really important lesson to learn. Remember that one the time five minutes are added to your route.
"Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD." (Psalm 27:14 NASB)
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