Our Impatience With His Plan

I hate traffic. It drives me absolutely bonkers. I hate when things are inefficient and I feel like sitting in traffic is such a waste of my time. As my best friends will tell you, I have this horrible habit of taking "short cuts" to avoid traffic. The irony of my short cuts is that most of the time, they end up taking twice as long. Or my mental GPS goes faulty and I take a route leading nowhere, forcing me to turn around and go back to the original way.

I was thinking of these "short cuts" in relation to my faith life. So often I get frustrated and impatient with God. I trust that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life", but I'm just not patient enough to follow that way. I want to give my life to God, but I want him to reveal his plan for me when I want him to. Instead of patiently waiting, I think to myself, "God, can you please get a move on it?" And in my impatience, I often choose a path that I think will be more efficient.

But just as I see in my short cuts, so many times the plans I have for myself lead nowhere. In my selfish ignorance, I think that I know better than God. I think that I know the right choices to make, that I know what's best for my future, that I know the right Vocation for me, and worst of all, that I can get by without his grace. But as I see in my short cuts, I eventually get stuck and see a sign "No Outlet". It is only then that I turn back to God, the source of life and goodness and love. It is only when I recognize that my own path leads me to emptiness and uselessness that I realize my need for God's infinitely perfect plan.

In traffic, I am not always able to see the end or know when I will reach my destination. And in faith, saying yes to God's plan often means being patient with his timing and being uncertain about where my destination will be. But though the road of faith is often rocky, steep, and narrow, the destination is worth the wait and worth the sacrifice. I pray that we all have patience as God pursues and uses us.