The Evening Commute

Tuesdays have always been my days.

I was driving my evening commute home today, as usual. A million thoughts paced rapidly through my mind. Light after light, through sluggish and congested traffic, I drifted away in my worries. Anxiously, I scoured my brain for solutions to the problems that seemed to abound. Back and forth, I weighed the pros and cons of pending circumstances in my own life... and in the lives of the people who are dear to me. My toddler, whose patience is still a work in progress, sat fidgety in the backseat, making me increasingly anxious. I needed to get him home and fed dinner and bathed and tucked into bed before the "overtired tears" began to shed.

In the midst of this mental rampage I was sending myself on, analyzing and anticipating every circumstance involving my life and the lives of those whom I love, there was a sudden interruption. In one moment, a hush fell over the ransacking dialogue that was stirring in my mind and spirit.

No, nothing changed. I was still sitting in my car, stuck in traffic. The problems and circumstances I'd been debating didn't just fall away. But suddenly, it was as if God said - Hey, just stop.

In that moment, it was so clear to me that I was racking my brain about things that involved ME. MY PEOPLE. MY LIFE. My circumstances.

​Things that not only revolve completely around me, but that are constantly revolving, evolving, changing, and growing.

And it also became just as clear to me that there is only ONE thing that never changes. Our God.

It was as if time stood still, and all that I could recognize was the calming presence of our Heavenly Father and His precious love. For just a moment, I could recognize that our circumstances don't always matter quite as much as we make them out to...

but our God's power, greatness, and goodness never shifts, never stops. His sovereignty is timeless and boundless. He is omniscient and yet full of grace. He is the most righteous One, and yet He is overflowing with compassion and love. He is powerful beyond measure, and yet He reaches His stalwart hands tenderly out towards us.

I realized, yet again, that sometimes we just need to take our eyes, minds, and hearts off of our circumstances and direct them toward where they belong: in dwelling upon the goodness of our glorious King.
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