Admitted Need

As I stood on the curb waiting to cross the busy four-lane intersection, the stop lights flashed red in all directions. A scenario like this makes me apprehensive when I am behind the wheel because some drivers do not see that the lights are blinking and run them, while others do not know how to navigate the intersection as a four-way stop. Considering that I was on foot, this situation caused even more trepidation.

After watching the intersection, I noticed that most of the drivers saw that the lights were flashing red and that they checked to see if there was any traffic coming from the side street. But because the side street had almost no traffic, the drivers stopped only momentarily. And not one of them noticed that I was standing on the curb waiting to make my way across all four lanes.

I wondered if I would have to wait until the rush-hour traffic subsided before I could cross the street. As I considered going back in to work for a bit, I looked up and saw a uniformed officer approaching.

As the officer came closer, I asked if he would help me cross the street, and he obliged. The four lanes of traffic respected his authority and let us cross without incident.

It seemed absurd that I, at age thirty-four, needed to ask for help crossing the street. Yet it was so much easier, not to mention safer, to be guided across the intersection by a uniformed officer than if I had tried to do it on my own.

I wonder how many times has God wanted to help me and patiently waited for me to ask, only to see me try a task on my own because I won't put my pride aside. This little instance of admitting my need and watching it be so easily fulfilled has spoken volumes to me about how much more I need to depend on God instead of myself.