First Baptist Church of Herndon

To Beep or Not To Beep

Linda Soller | Apr 28, 2014

To beep or not to beep, that is the question. There I sat, my lunch in the seat beside me getting colder by the second. It was only a half mile to my office, but this particular intersection could take forever to get through. There was only one car between me and the open road. Waiting for the light to turn, I listened to music, keeping the beat with my bobbing head. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the light turn green. I faced the traffic signal and prepared to move, but as the second car in the left turn lane I couldn’t just hit the gas. I sat and I sat, for what seemed like minutes, but was more likely seconds. The driver in front of me was looking down in the direction of his passenger seat, or there about. I raised my hand to give a gentle little “please move” beep of my car horn when I realized the car in front of me was a police car.

Now I had a dilemma. To beep or not to beep, that was the question facing me. He obviously hadn’t noticed the light changing. I certainly wouldn’t blast him, I would only give a friendly little beep, but I sat there frozen. What was I to do? I wanted so badly to hit my horn, I mean tap it, but I had visions of him getting out of his car and sauntering back toward me with a most irritated expression. No one behind me was beeping. Cars turning left from the oncoming traffic lanes were cruising comfortably through the intersection. Thoughts raced through my mind of my lunch getting cold, of me possibly missing the light entirely and having to sit for another cycle, and of another five minutes wasted heaven forbid. This situation was not acceptable.

Then it happened, he looked up and pulled ahead, no sign that he realized what he had just put me through. No little wave to say, “So sorry I got a bit distracted.” He had no clue that anything was amiss, the nerve of him.  Slowly, careful to stay in my lane, I followed him through the intersection. He went his way, and I went mine. I thought he was going a touch fast. The entire event had taken a minute or so, but hopefully the lesson learned will last longer.

The officer had done nothing wrong except not respond as I wanted him to respond. All of us in the left turn lane had safely cleared the intersection and headed toward our destinations. My lunch was still warm, and I was back at my desk well within my lunch break. My impatience had reared its ugly head for no good reason. We often have a similar reaction to God. He looks after us, he’s always caring for us, he guides us along, and yet we easily lose patience with him. We struggle to function on his schedule when we are certain we know best. We don’t want to be inconvenienced. We’re sure it wouldn’t impact the “big picture” if God would just follow our timeline. Patience is a skill that needs practice and gets better with use. Thank goodness God has patience with us, because some of us have a long way to go, and it will take time.

Back at my desk, warm hamburger in hand, it dawned on me, I nearly beeped my horn at a police officer, what in the world was I thinking?

Have a great week :o)    Linda