Yielding to the Call

I was driving down the highway the other day, and approached a Y in the road. I knew I had to take the fork to the right, but there were others turning from the left.  A yields sign stood there, warning me to wait for other traffic to clear before I proceeded on my journey. As I waited for a semi with a double trailer to complete his slow left turn through the narrow, rather odd, intersection, I started to get impatient.

“Come on.” I could hear the irritation in my voice as he tried to turn as safely as possible.

Finally he made is turn, but behind him, three more cars were taking their turns. I had to yield for them as well.

Finally it was my turn. It was such a sense of relief to finally be able to go. After all, I had important things to do. I had to get to the  coffee shop, to meet friends and discuss upcoming ministry events over Agave Lattes.

In reality, my wait at the Yield sign was less than 2 minutes, but it felt like forever. In a world where we have so much instant gratification, we expect everything to be immediate and our level of patience with even a slight delay is nil.

Sometimes we bring our haste into things we believe we are supposed to do in our life.

I knew in 1994 that God was calling me to speak and write. I had no idea where to start, but I was anxious to make things happen. For God, right? 

I threw myself into church activities, ran for offices and wrote as much as I could. But I couldn’t get a break. Nothing was happening. I couldn’t get published, no one would even talk to me about speaking and my husband thought I had lost my mind.

I was frustrated because every time I thought I was doing what God wanted me to do, I hit road blocks. It took me years to realize they were really yield signs in my path. I needed to wait for things to pass before I could go. Knowing where I was going, didn’t mean I needed to race to get there.

Over the past 17 years there have been many events that made me see why I would not have been ready to effectively minister to others at the beginning of this journey. Throughout the road to becoming an author and speaker there have been many yield signs; and I have learned that it is okay to stop and look to make sure nothing is coming at me before I pull forward.

God’s plan for us does not change just because we proceed with caution. I have also seen many green lights, especially in the past couple of years. It is amazing and humbling to watch God work through the ministry He directs in my life.