Ready, Set, Honk

Now that I spend less time on the highway and more time driving between Costco and music lessons, I’m running into more stop lights than before. And the more lights we see, inevitably the more horns we’re gonna hear. I’m pretty sure horns usually come with pitchforks (at least per the experts in Hollywood).

Rarely is there such a thing as a pleasant and tender honk, at least not when red turns green. The only honk I’ve actually heard with a friendly tone of “howdy there” was from my little 50cc scooter that my wife firmly vetoed from the garage. Maybe the high-pitched beep wasn’t manly enough, or maybe it was the purple and pink stripes blazing through the neighborhood.

But this week the honk behind me bothered me in a different way than I’ve felt before. Probably because all of a sudden I find myself on the other extreme of being in a rush, which some might label a Sunday driver (a term of endearment, I’m sure). Since I’m not sprinting to the next place for once, I now notice how silly I used to look with my furrowed brow, heavy foot, and quick trigger fingers hovering over the wheel.

Rarely did I ever think about the car in front of me, or that they too are simply planning to get from point A to point B. It’s not like they are deliberately trying to soak up the entire green light so I can’t pass go or collect $200. All I’m thinking about is that I have places to be and people to see. “Don’t you know how important I am??” As if I need the extra 5 seconds to get to my destination any faster by blasting an obnoxious auto burp.

As I heard the horn now targeted at me, I immediately thought this can’t be what the inventor of the honk originally had in mind (so I waited another 30 seconds to ponder my thoughts before hitting the gas). When did the steering wheel transition from a helpful safety alert to our personal blow horn to hurry up already?

But then it hit me. Whether we’re a beeper behind the wheel or not, I have a feeling all of us are guilty of honking at God.

Some of us actually do it audibly and raise our voice demanding answers. There might even be a bad word or two directed to the heavens (which we’ll have to beep out like my scooter since this is a family blog).

Most of us just want a faster turnaround to our prayers. Would you hurry up and get going, God?? I’ve got a life schedule and plan to keep.

Yet others want to be honked at God just because. As if He has wronged us or is out to get us. And we huff and puff in discontentment when things aren’t going the way we want.

But if we take just a moment to pause and reflect rather than go go, I think we’ll realize that God sometimes purposefully stops in front of us and may actually turn the engine off to get our attention. We want to see greener pastures ahead, but He hasn’t given us the green light yet. Might He be asking us to let go of the wheel rather than swerve around yelling at the rear view mirror as we race past His presence and pace?

Not many of us like red lights, either metaphorically or the real deal that forces us to actually wait an extra minute. But next time we sit at an intersection, maybe it can turn into an opportunity to pause and listen for God’s voice and prompt rather than check Facebook.

And we might just get a friendly howdy honk from above in return.