Red Traffic Lights, Roundabouts and Breakdowns

I've been listening to the Ting Tings and their song 'Traffic Light' really struck me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmp4chh2R28

It's a bit random, and is about a relationship... but there are some ideas in it that relate to my journey with God and as I was listening it made me think.

'Don't you be a traffic light

with all things said

you turn to red

don't you be a traffic light'

Do I sometimes say stop before I even get going? Am I likely to say no before I say yes? In teaching I often used traffic light questions so the pupils would be able to choose which they were able to do. The red ones were always the hardest. Do I sometimes avoid the stuff that might challenge me because I've already got the green light on other stuff? Do I go straight for the red because I want a challenge but miss what is in front of my face?

'Don't you be a roundabout

not another roundabout

we've come this far

yet back to the start

don't you be a roundabout'

We've all been on those journeys where we are looking for somewhere new and we end up going round the roundabout more than once. We can pretend we are moving forward with God, but instead we keep going round in circles because we can't make the decision. Got to do it one day otherwise we'll just get dizzy, or we'll start going too slowly and the laws of physics will throw us off.

'let's not have a breakdown

not another breakdown

you're on your own a long way from home

let's not have a breakdown'

Once we've gone through the green light, it doesn't mean we can never rest. Once we've made the decision, it doesn't mean that we don't need to rest. The signs on the motorway that say 'tiredness kills, take a break' remind us that a service station is coming up. On the journey we need to remember that we need to re-fuel and look after ourselves. That's where time to rest with God in prayer and in his word comes in. 

This morning I was reading a chapter from Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love and she said this:

'If God wanted to show me more he would, but I needed no light but him'

God is the torchlight lighting my path. Even if I don't know where the next turning is I can see the next bit of road, I just need to have the confidence to keep stepping on it.