Trusting the One in charge

Firehouse sidewalk

in red-orange!

The new fire station around the corner has been under construction for several months now. While the project has not moved quickly, it has moved steadily.

For several days the workmen were pouring concrete, one section at a time, on the drive where the fire trucks will zoom out. Later they poured the concrete for the sidewalk.

But they did something that seemed very odd. They left the sidewalk squares closest to the driveway unpoured. Four places the sidewalk touches the driveway, and those squares remained empty after the cement truck had driven away.

To the casual observer (me) it made no sense. At that point I had to decide whether to dither and criticze, or to trust that the cement crews knew exactly what they were doing. Having better things to think about, I decided to trust and not dither, and see what would happen.

The next day as I went past, the truck and crew were on the job, pouring in those last squares of sidewalk. My confidence in their understanding of the whole job was not misplaced. The squares touching the driveway were contrasting red-orange and textured. The color and surface would alert pedestrians that this was a fire station, and they might have to quickly move out of the way.

This was a good lesson for me. If our lives are progressive, we often find some area under construction. Construction projects can be messy, and we may not understand why some parts are finished while other important-to-us parts remain incomplete.

I’ve found that it’s OK to trust the great Architect, who I also have found wholly caring and the source of all good and right things in the world. Because S/He sees the whole picture, the big picture, S/He knows the perfect timing for each part of our lives to fit exactly with what’s gone before so we can better love our fellow beings.

There may be steps we need to take, but not out of a sense of forcing events. If I try to push things from my perspective, it often interferes with what would have happened in an orderly way a little later.

Apparently somebody else reached this conclusion a long time ago, because he advised, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs)