First Baptist Church of Herndon

It's your turn

Linda Soller | Aug 31, 2015

I am driving home from work and I come up behind a pizza delivery car. The left turn light is blinking, and every time we come to a street or driveway the car slows a bit, sometimes hesitating, and then slowly moves on. After a few miles of this behavior the driver actually makes a left turn. Normally I would have been a touch irritated, but that night I just shook my head. You may already know the use of turn signals, or lack of use, is my pet peeve. Here was a driver who elected to turn on his signal because he knew eventually he would turn left. He was signaling his intention. Unfortunately his intention and his action were too far apart to really be meaningful. I feel certain in his mind it made sense to leave that light blinking so all other cars would allow him to drive in whatever fashion he desired until he actually made a turn. You may think his way was safer than turning it on last minute. Unfortunately by the time he actually turned left the line of drivers piled up behind him, including myself, were taking each slow down as a tease as opposed to reality. None of us were expecting his actual turn.

Have you ever known a person who acted the same way with their faith? You know the person I mean. They talk a big game. They talk about wanting to go to church, appreciating the support of their local congregation, and how in times of trouble they turn to God. It all sounds fine and understandable until you hear it so often you don’t know if you can believe it. You want to say, “So tell me again why it’s so hard to get to church even once a month?” You offer the suggestion that in communicating with other Christians and studying the Bible they will have a clearer understanding of their faith. You may say, “Prayer is wonderful, but should be used regularly, in good times and bad.” All the snappy/sarcastic comebacks are right there at the tip of your tongue. Then you realize they have been signaling about their faith so they can practice it any way they want. Just like our driver with the turn signal. So you wait.

What is it they need to finally make the turn? I don’t have an answer, but I am pretty sure it isn’t one of my snappy/sarcastic remarks. Are you one of those people? If so, I wonder why you want to send the signal to the rest of us. In the big picture you don’t have to explain to me, you need to deal directly with God, and it’s your turn.

Have a great week! :o)  Linda

A Huge Thanks to Charles, with best wishes. Go forth and make a joyful noise!