The Blessing of Traffic Jams

I only had an easy 4 hour drive left yesterday after my stay at the hotel. IN THEORY. I had left NY the day before, hit massive traffic jams, driven 8 hours, and decided I was too tired to make it home in one shot. So I settled happily into a hotel with a gorgeous mountain view. I awoke well rested, and took my time getting out in the morning. I was grateful that I only had a 4 hour drive left that day. IN THEORY.

As I pulled way from the hotel and adjusted my GPS holder, it broke. No problem! I only had a 4 hour easy drive home (IN THEORY). I would just stop at Walmart, for a new GPS holder. The Walmart was just minutes from my hotel, right on the way out of Lexington.

I bought a new GPS holder, and attached it , per the instructions, to my windshield. It didn't stick. I tried multiple times, and finally gave up and returned to Walmart. They happily refunded my money, and urged me to try a new GPS holder, which has been shown on TV and people are snatching it in droves. It miraculously grabs the GPS or smart phone with tiny little suction cups and there is no need for a holster type device, like my old one. Fine. I bought it. It attached to the windshield just fine, and held onto my GPS miraculously.

UNTIL I WAS MILES DOWN THE ROAD AND MY GPS FELL OFF.

I traveled on, without the GPS, since I didn't really need it. I like having it on since it tells me when I can expect to arrive home. Before it fell off, it told me I had only 3 hours and 45 minutes left...IN THEORY.

Around lunch time, an hour or so later, I pulled into a small town, and saw a Walmart. Perfect. I would return the GPS holder that didn't work, get a new one, as well as lunch, and be home by 2:30. It was all going almost as planned. I didn't love the several diversions to Walmart, but since I had such a short drive (IN THEORY), I wasn't as upset as I might have been by the extra errands. Walmart happily refunded my money, gave me a new GPS holder that was not like the miraculous one shown on TV, and while pricier, was guaranteed to work. As I returned to the car, I glanced at my right front tire. Something did not look right. It looked almost flat. This was not at all good, even with only 3 hours (IN THEORY) left to drive.

Fortunately, the new GPS holder was perfect. I pulled into a nearby fast food restaurant, and asked my smartphone to direct me to the nearest tire repair garage. The cashier at the take-out window confirmed my smartphone's choice of a reliable garage. I got my lunch to go, and headed to the garage, just a mile away. It was closed for lunch. However, during the few moments I sat pondering my next move, a car pulled into the lot. I rolled down my window. I asked the driver if there was another car repair place that might be open. He directed me just a mile down the road the other way. So I drove to that garage. Fortunately, they were not closed for lunch. I explained my problem, and the mechanic looked at my tire.

"Yes, we need to check that out," he said, "You can't drive much further on that. We'll get you in right away." I ate my lunch while he checked my car. Twenty minutes later, he came to the waiting room and handed me a nail.
"If you had gone much further, you would have been sitting on the side of the interstate with a flat."

I thought back over the past two days. Due to incredible traffic jams, I decided not to plough all the way home in one day as planned and got a hotel. I had wanted to do the drive in one day, and was frustrated by all the traffic that made my passage so much longer than usual. The car had been pulling to the right (the side of the bad tire) for days. I had probably had the nail and a slow leak for some time. Had I not stopped in the hotel, I might have been driving in the mountains, in the dark, when the tire finally went flat. Had my GPS holder not broken, I might not have pulled into the little town with the Walmart, would not have noticed the slowly flattening tire, nor found the little garage willing to take in my car right away. All those frustrating delays had led to a very fortuitous salvation. (this is salvation with a little s. Only Jesus can do Salvation with a big S.)

And how much did the little garage charge me to patch my tire? I cringed as I awaited the price gouging bill, since I was at their mercy. $7.

I hit massive traffic jams the whole rest of the way home. The 4 hour drive took me 8 hours. And yet, I realized that sometimes when God waylays us, there is a reason. I can't say I LOVED the traffic jams, but I was a little more patient than I might otherwise have been. God has His reasons, and sometimes, we are blessed to see them, though often we are not. Either way, it is probably best to trust Him, and accept His diversions. He may be preventing a tire blowout from sending you careening off a mountain cliff in the frozen darkness.

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“God’s way is perfect. All the Lord ’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. (2 Samuel 22:31 NLT)



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