For years I lived with the mentality that to be thirty minutes early was to be late. I always tried to give myself plenty of time to get to my destination, and this was for a variety of reasons. For one thing, I tried to give myself extra time just in case I ran into an unexpected delay – construction work that had traffic backed up, an accident that had the road blocked, a flat tire that I would have to change, etc. Giving myself extra time meant that I would reach my destination early. And early, in my estimation, is always better than late.

I have met a few people who thought fashionably late was a way to showcase themselves. They wanted to make an entrance after most of the other attendees had already arrived so that they would be seen. I suppose they had the desire to be the showcase participants at the event. I, on the other hand, have always thought it was a bit discourteous to the event planners as well as the other attendees. Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned, but, as I have already stated, early is always better than late.

But maybe there are times when being late would be appropriate. Have you ever given thought to the fact that for two vehicles to be involved in an accident, they have to be in exactly the same spot at the same time. Precisely, down to the millisecond. Five seconds earlier or later would have made all the difference in the world.

As is obvious from my opening remarks, I am a stickler for being on time. But, there have been times when I was delayed in my departure time for some reason. Just the other day, for example, I had driven about two miles from home when I realized that I had forgotten my hearing aids. So, I had to take time to go back those two miles so that I would be able to hear any conversations I might engage in that day. That four-mile round trip delay probably caused me to lose ten to fifteen minutes. Not long, but long enough to have missed something that might have happened had I been “on time”.

Of course, it is sheer speculation to think about what could have happened had I been able to continue with no detour/delay, but it is reason to pause and think. How many times could God have orchestrated a delay in our scheduled plans for the day because He knew that if we were on time by our plans we would have encountered some sort of problem.

I try to maintain this mindset when I find myself stuck in traffic due to circumstances far beyond my control. I try to remind myself that this delay could very well be saving me from some problems that would have occurred had I been able to keep going without the delay.

Maybe I’m overthinking this whole thing, or maybe I’ve just had too much caffeine and my mind is kicked into overdrive. Or maybe, just maybe, there is a bit of truth in this assessment. So, just in the likelihood that there is, let’s try to not allow ourselves to get overly frustrated over those detours and delays that interrupt our schedule. Use them to thank God for the scenery you may have missed had you been able to keep moving. Or, better yet, use those delays as a time to spend time conversing with God about the details of your day. Either way, you will find that your frustrations will not seem so drastic as they might seem otherwise.

Blessings!