“But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.” (Nehemiah 4:7–8, ESV)
My mother-in-law lives 40 miles from our house. I once accomplished this drive in 45 minutes. But the only reason this happened was that it was in the wee hours of the morning. She lives in Queens, NY and we live in New Jersey. It typically takes us about 1.5 hours to make the drive. That is double what it takes under ideal conditions. 1
A reality to driving in New Jersey and New York City is traffic. If you don’t plan for traffic, you will be late for everything. You cannot always anticipate where the traffic will be. It might be road construction, bad weather, or an accident. But most of the time it is caused by a lack of infrastructure to accommodate the number of vehicles on the road. The causes are all different, but there is a constant, and that is there will be traffic. It will set you back from arriving at your destination in the time you expect.
The problem is that many people don’t plan for the traffic. They plan with the assumption that travel conditions will be ideal and there will be no delay. We all know that person who is always late. They tell you that they will be there in 10 minutes and a half hour later you are still waiting for them. They are constantly making promises they can’t keep.
Resistance is a reality. There will be delays. There will be opposition. There will be bumps in the road. You will probably not get to where you are going as fast as you like. It will never be ideal.
For the people of Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the walls was coming along fantastic. The breaches were beginning to be closed, but they were about to hit their first point of resistance. Sanballat and Tobiah were plotting to fight against Jerusalem and seeking cause confusion. It would inevitably cause a delay to the project.
We cannot prepare for every point of resistance we will face. But when we expect it we can better plan to accommodate it, make room for it, and live with a greater sense of peace.
Reflection
- Where do you anticipate an ideal situation that is not based in reality?
- How do we prepare for the unexpected delays and resistance we experience in life?
Prayer
Lord, thank you for being with me every step of the way. My situation is never ideal, and there are always points of delay and frustration. Give me the wisdom to create buffers in my life to make accommodation for the resistance I experience so that I can live in your perfect peace. Amen.
- There was one time that this drive took more than 4 hours after getting stuck in Manhattan gridlock. I don’t know who thought going through Manhattan would be a great short cut. ↩
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