Hesitation

The other day an incident that happened while driving reminded me of our discussions of where we went wrong in our spiritual walk. Down the road from where I live is a European style round-about. You’ve seen the pictures of drivers going in circles. This round-about is a band-aid to ease traffic congestion caused by a four lane road narrowing to a two lane bridge. There are no stop signs and if you know how to use it, it really speeds things up. Much better than the same situation 5 miles north of here where they put in a traffic light…which to my knowledge has never seen a green light it likes. The people who lived near it protested a round-about because it is “to confusing”. Fact of the matter is, the first time you use it, it is…if you don’t know the secret. This is the only place in our state where the signs have you yielding to the Driver on the left! If everyone is going 20 miles an hour and yielding to the left traffic flows with ease. I remember making eye contact with a young female driver and she shot right out in front of me! WAY TO GO! That was exactly what she was supposed to do. Traffic flowed and I did not have to slow a bit. The problems come when a newbie approaches the circle and panics. They all do the same thing. They hesitate, confused not knowing what to do. There is plenty of room to go but they freeze up. That hesitation causes all sorts of problems. Seizing the opportunity to be helpful and instructive I give a short beep of my pleasant sounding horn. This is much more effective when driving my lifted one ton diesel truck rather than my Scion that more resembles a juice box or toaster. If the pleasant pleading of the short beep is not effective I will…for their sake and instruction…give a longer blast generally lasting as long as they are frozen. What else could I do?…and if I had the temperament to sit in silence and wait, I probably would not write blogs either. We each have to do our part for traffic safety, right? Hesitation can, at least in this situation get a person killed, or at least beeped at. There is another kind of hesitation that is more serious. Oswald Chambers explains it in My Utmost for His

The golden rule to follow to obtain spiritual understanding is not one of intellectual pursuit, but one of obedience. If a person wants scientific knowledge, then intellectual curiosity must be his guide. But if he desires knowledge and insight into the teachings of Jesus Christ, he can only obtain it through obedience. If spiritual things seem dark and hidden to me, then I can be sure that there is a point of disobedience somewhere in my life. Intellectual darkness is the result of ignorance, but spiritual darkness is the result of something that I do not intend to obey.
Do you ever get the sense that the Spirit is behind you HONKING? Me to.