Thursday, January 29, 2009

Red, Amber & Green


During my one year missionary stint in Taipei City, Taiwan, I had many new experiences and adventures. The first lesson learnt was how to safely navigate and survive the bumper-to-bumper traffic that choked the city everyday. As a foreign Newspaper journalist put it in his daily section; “traffic lights are only a suggestion in Taipei City.”

This morning while driving to work, I was nearly run over by a driver who ran a red light at the intersection as I waited to turn right. It was only because of my quick reflexes, and paranoia from a recent traffic accident, that averted a potentially dangerous collision.

I wonder what the three colors on a traffic light mean to different people.
From what I have observed on our roads it seems to me that some have re-interpreted the colors to mean something else;

Green means “Be the first off the blocks and try to make it to the second traffic lights before that turns red.”
Amber means “Speed up to beat the lights.”
Red means “Pedal to the metal to avoid a collision.”


It begs the question; “Where are we rushing to?”
Often in our journey through life’s highway, God attempts to slow us down to a safe pace. The lights flash “red” but we respond and try to outrun those lights by speeding up our life.

“Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 NLT

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