Traffic Jams

I hate traffic jams. Every time I have to drive in a big city I remember why I live in Rochester! I can get home from downtown in 10 minutes. There are times in Minneapolis that you can't go 2 miles in 10 minutes!

Last weekend, Mr. Friend and Youngster went with me to Cleveland to watch the Twins play. We left at 6 AM on Thursday which had us driving through Chicago during the noon hour. Mr. Friend drives through Chicago far more than I do, so I asked him which way he would recommend. Since it wasn't rush hour, he thought it would be OK to stay on I-90 through Chicago. We sailed right through town! There were only a couple of times that my speed dropped below 45 mph. I was shocked! I don't think I ever got through Chicago as quickly as we did that day.

We arrived in Cleveland, checked into our hotel, then headed out for some supper. Since Red Robin is the Youngster's favorite restaurant, and there was one really close to the hotel, that was chosen as our destination. Youngster loves their hamburgers! Actually, he loves a particular hamburger. He ALWAYS orders the same one. He mentioned at supper that he is afraid to try any other burger because he loves that one and if he doesn't like a different one as well he will feel as if he wasted the trip. That makes sense...

The next day was a fun day! We toured the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Then headed for downtown Cleveland to watch the Twins play the Indians. It was a great game - the Twins won 1-0!

The next morning we headed back for Rochester. We left the hotel at 7:30 AM which got us into Chicago...during the noon hour. I had no qualms now about Chicago. Surely the traffic on Saturday would be better than the traffic on Thursday was! We entered Chicago and we were making great time...for a few miles. Then we hit a slowdown in the traffic. Actually it was a complete stop.

For the next two hours, we drove across Chicago. 

We stopped.

We drove slowly. 

We stopped. 

We tried different lanes. It didn't help. 

For some unknown reason, the traffic was horrible - worse than any Chicago traffic I had encountered before. I kept expecting to see an accident up ahead, or maybe some road construction. But no, the only reason for the slow traffic was a tremendous number of vehicles on I-90. By the time I finally reached the western side of Chicago and the traffic picked up to a normal pace, I had sworn I would never drive through Chicago again! Chances are I will have to eat those words someday!

Sometimes life is like Chicago traffic. Sometimes life is easy and your sailing along and enjoying the ride. But sometimes life is not so easy. Sometimes things get in your way and you feel like it is a struggle to make any headway at all.

It is tempting to fall into "pity" mode when we are in the midst of life's struggles. It is tempting to quit reading your Bible. It is tempting to stop praying. After all, you haven't heard anything from God for a while. That is a major part of the struggle. But it is during those times that we must spend even more time in the Bible and even more time in prayer! God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. That means that He is there, even though we may not sense it. As Henry Blackaby has said, don't interpret the Scriptures by your experiences; interpret your experiences by Scripture! We need to believe God's Word that He hears our prayers, even when we don't sense it. We need to believe that all things work to the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

In reality, our slowdown through Chicago was not that bad. We still made it home in good time.

And in reality, our difficult days will pass, easier days will return, and our faith in the Lord will be even greater! God is always faithful to keep His promises!