I live in a small town that serves as an intersection for several major roadways. In addition, there’s a resort less than 10 minutes down the road. So, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, traffic, specifically in our one little traffic circle, is a mess.

I’ve seen people go the wrong way, go around it multiple times, stop to let people at a yield sign go, and even stop and throw their hands up in confusion because they have no idea which way they’re going. While it’s frustrating and sometimes dangerous, it’s also just part of living where I do.

If you’ve never driven in one, traffic circles can be daunting. The GPS says stuff like “Take the second right,” but you’re not sure if where you are counts as the first right or not. So, you do what any logical person would do and scream in frustration or just straight up freeze when you don’t know where to go. Yet, if they took a split second to rationalize that you can’t turn right in the lane you’re in, or just trusted what the GPS and road signs are telling you, you would have been fine and wouldn’t have needed to go buy an iced coffee to calm down. Upon reflection, I feel like traffic circles and tourists are a really good metaphor for our relationship with God.

Does anybody else find themselves only half-listening to God sometimes? There are moments in my life where God had gotten me to a certain point, and I just stop listening to what He’s telling me. Like He could tell me to go and talk to this person about a particular subject, and then I do something dumb like start the conversation with the person, but don’t actually follow what God laid on my heart. So I sit there floundering for the words to say, and I sort of end up looking like an idiot. Then I have to go drown my sorrows in an iced coffee, that I really shouldn’t have purchased.

Like that GPS telling the clueless tourist to take the second right repeatedly, sometimes I feel like God’s sitting there just repeating the instructions to me just waiting for me to listen. And you know what? In both situations, all of the pain, trouble, and unneeded caffeine could have been avoided if research was done and trust was given. For the tourists, that looks like viewing the entire route before you start driving and trusting that if a wrong turn is taken, you’ll be able to still find your way. For Christians, that looks like studying God’s Word, praying, and keeping close to Him. It also looks like trusting that He’s got your back and isn’t going to let you down.

So, next time you find yourself wondering what God (or a traffic circle) wants you to do, look for signs, and don’t stop in the middle of a potentially dangerous situation. Pull off to the side of the road if you have to. Take a second to regroup, get your bearings, and then try again.