“Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.” Psalm 37:7 NLT

Coming home one evening, we were behind a van as we approached the 4-way stop near our house. The van driver stopped, heading east. There was no one else stopped, so he could have easily started on through the intersection. A semi-truck was approaching from the south. He never even slowed down, blowing through the stop sign. For whatever reason, the van’s driver paused long enough to avoid being t-boned by the truck.

Watching all this from behind the van, I first thanked God for making the van driver hesitate enough to prevent what would have been a devastating accident. Then, I thought, would I have done the same thing?

Probably not.

I have a tendency to slow, but not stop, at the intersections of life.

• When I’m sick, I want to get better so I can get on with my list.
• When I’m hurt or upset, I want to move past it quickly so the pain goes away.
• When the rug is pulled out, I want to jump back up and steady my feet so no one sees me falter.
• When I have barely enough to get through today, I want to win the lottery, so I won’t have to worry about money ever again.

But just as fast as that semi was rumbling through the stop sign and missing the intersection, I wonder, how much of life do I miss by not stopping? How much of what God is trying to show me is missed because I want to quickly slide through that intersection?

God uses those intersections in life to change us, mold us, teach us, use us. There are people and places in each of those intersections that God intends for us to encounter. If we are too focused on getting through it, we miss much of His teaching and treasure for our lives.

We don’t know what God has planned in those times, but surely, He does. Trusting the intersections of our lives to Him could dramatically impact our lives, if we let them.

I received a text from my church with these words: “Maybe God is intending for you to arrive at an intersection the same time another person is arriving who might need exactly what you can do.”

Will you join me? Will you be like the driver of the van, pausing at the intersection instead of the semi-truck driver, who couldn’t stop long enough to avoid disaster?