Rarely in Our Time

Exodus 3

Patience is not always my best virtue.  In fact I have taught my son to be frustrated and impatient as I take him to school every morning.  For the last three years I have driven my son to school and dropped him off out front nearly every day.  And for three years it has been the same thing over and over.  Often there is a line of vehicles waiting to drop off children at the front entrance.  The driveway is a circle that is marked by a yellow line to tell parents how far to pull ahead  so that the maximum number of children can be dropped off at once.  There is even a teacher or two waving vehicles to pull ahead so that more kids can be dropped off and the line can move faster.  Parents have been told to stay inside of their vehicles, to have their children to exit only off to the side of the sidewalk, and if they have a project to bring to school to be sure to park in the parking lot and walk it in.  Letters and emails have been sent to remind and encourage parents to consider others when dropping off their children.

Unfortunately, I think that I am one of the very few that have read or tried to heed those messages.  Inevitably, I am most often behind the parent who instead of pulling their child to the furthest point must wait in line and drop off their student as close to the door as possible.  Then the parent will get out of the car, open the rear driver's door and help their child out of the car with a hug and a goodbye.  They then stand and watch the child walk the twenty feet to the door before reentering their vehicle and departing.  I have seen several parents park their car in the driveway (among a host of others who are trying to drop off their children) and then walk their child into school with a project.  The teachers outside have almost given up on waving vehicles forward.

Now I know that this may be a petty thing.  And I should not allow it to bother me.  But when I have my daughter in the car to be taken to preschool I am not exuding patience.  I have not honked my horn.  Nor have I shared unfriendly gestures.  I have in my heart wished I had a laser destruction button on my dashboard that I would furiously press.

Wow, that was a long intro.  Anyway, let's look at Exodus.  When I think of God working and using people I think of my impatience.  I am so often in a hurry in my life.  As I study Moses and reflect on Joseph's passing I see God who is very careful and methodical.  He is always moving at his own pace.  We are so often distracted by living our lives.  Joseph's family had settled down in Egypt.  They were growing families, working jobs, and just plain old living life.  Joseph had been forgotten by the new Pharaoh.  The oppression that they were receiving was not an accident.  God was preparing a sleepy comfortable people to go. 

Moses was comfortable as a prince of Egypt.  He also became comfortable as a shepherd in the wilderness.  His days and his people in Egypt had become just memories.  Now he is dealing with straggling sheep and raising his how family.  He was not looking for or expecting the burning bush.  He did not feel prepared, equipped or ready.  What Moses did not realize is that God had been working and planning from the beginning and now it was time for him to use Moses in his perfect plan.  Moses was right where God wanted him.  He has seen and experience all that God had wanted him to.  Now it was time to go.  No amount of excuses was going to stop God.  All time is God's time.  When God calls on us we best be ready and willing because it is going to happen.  God's way.

Am I living my impatient life or am I ready to go?