We waited for the last bus out of downtown Johannesburg, South Africa. We had just moved there from the States and I had my passport with me in a large purse hanging at my side. It was nearly dusk and we were anxious to get back to the house because downtown was emptying out. The bus was taking entirely too long. “Did we miss it?” “I don’t think so, but maybe the buses don’t run regularly, so I don’t really know.” We waited longer. We were the ONLY ones waiting, which made it more difficult because we had no one to ask. What we did next was not a very good thing.
Our impatience prompted us to move. We went down the street to another bus stop closer in the direction of home. We waited there impatiently until we could take it no more and we moved down the street again. We did this three times, getting further and further away from the more populated area. The sun was just starting to go down and we were getting a little worried now—new country, unfamiliar ways, alone on an empty street and no bus in sight. Then Jane saw him coming!
He bolted toward us from about 75 feet away. Jane had seen him but all I saw was a blur. She jumped in front of me, grabbed me with both arms around the middle, as I clutched my purse to my chest. The guy hesitated, then ran to about 30 feet away, stopped and continued to just walk down the street as if nothing unusual had happened at all. We were shaken up. When we settled down a bit, we started to breathe a little easier and prayed that the bus would show up soon.
In just a few minutes it was there—the very last bus leaving the city—6p.m. For our next three years living in Jo’burg, we never pulled a stunt like that again!
God didn’t tell us to move down to the next bus stop. We should have just stayed where we were, but we let our impatience drive us into trouble.
How often have you left the Lord at home while you go to work? Haven’t consulted Him on a new endeavor you feel strongly about? Didn’t even consider that He would be interested in who you go out with over the weekend? Sometimes our actions say, “I’ll go ahead and handle this one.” Even if we don’t mean to, we leave the Lord behind and find out later it was a BIG mistake.
Proverbs 20:22 tells us: “Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.” The way He saves us is to give us wisdom. Don’t be hasty and impatient like we were. Wait on the Lord.
Love, Carolyn
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