Interstate Reflections

    Last week I drove from Cincinnati to Chattanooga for the last time and challenged myself to spend half of the drive in silence. For a little over three hours I drove without listening to music or a podcast or while talking on the phone with someone. I simply drove, reflected, and prayed. And although the completion of this time for silence and solitude was the intention in of itself, I learned a lot more about what it means to rest in the Lord from observing the interstate.

    

    I moseyed along mile after mile in the right lane, going the speed limit, which if you know how I drive is not usually my pace (this was another challenge to myself). The entire time I watched as cars passed me one right after the other and I was tempted to pick up the pace and follow them. But why? I had to remind myself again and again. Why do I need to rush through this drive? There wasn't any important meeting or event I had to get back for. There was simply no need to go any faster. Yet, I desired to make that drive as efficient as possible, to push my life along just a little bit faster. 

    In reality, my life is already moving incredibly fast. The sobering reality of the lack of drives from Cincinnati to Chattanooga left kept crashing into me. I told myself I should go slow and enjoy what's around me because there wouldn't be another. But that's not how interstates work. Rarely does anyone enjoy the time they spend on an interstate. It's wasted time necessary to bring us between places where time matters more. We can multitask and listen to a podcast or an audiobook, or call a friend we've been meaning to catch up with, but the actual time spent driving along from town to town, state to state, is rarely valued. I watched this phenomenon as car after car sped by me on their way to whatever was deemed more important than where they were right then. I had to ask myself, why am I letting my craving for an efficient life distract me from my immediate surroundings and precious time with the Lord?

"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, 'Let us go to Judea again.' The disciples said to him, 'Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?' Jesus answered, 'Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.' After saying these things, he said to them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.' The disciples said to him, 'Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.' Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, 'Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

                             - John 11:5-15 (ESV)

        Passages like this remind me that even in the midst of life and death, Jesus was not rushed. He stopped for the people around him. He took his time. Now I'm aware there is a very real difference between the power of God and the power of man and it's easy for me to reason away Jesus' slow pace with his all-knowing and all-powerful nature. However, the prompt response of Jesus was not rushed. He walked through his life and completed his ministry in his own timing. 

"Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea."

                                                - Mark 6:45-48 (ESV)

        For whatever reason, Jesus used these instances to wait where he was, even to pray and enjoy the father before going on to where he was called next. He never rushed, but rather was able to trust in the father's timing and his own timing to accomplish what was needed. There was a huge degree of trust, patience, and intentionality in the timing of his life. The good news for us is that although we ourselves don't have the power or the abilities to raise people from the dead or to stop a storm, we have a God who does. And although we shouldn't be reckless with our time, there is a level of trust that we should have in God with our time. 

        We can trust that even if we do things slowly, with patience and intentionality, God will be faithful to provide time and resources to get done what he wills to be done. That day there was some traffic on the drive down but God provided an alternative route where I could put my windows down and enjoy the Tennessee countryside. I wasn't constantly checking my ETA or pushing the speed limit just a little bit more but God got me to campus just when I needed to be there. I hadn't finished a big assignment that was due that night but God provided me with a professor full of grace who extended the deadline and allowed me to sleep. In the moment, we don't know how God will work out the time that we spend, but we must trust that resting in him and in the places he has put us will be enough. We don't need to rush for more time, speeding along in the left lane, programmed for max efficiency. We can bear to walk along to Judea at the pace of Jesus. We can bear to take the extra time to enjoy the presence of our Lord.