Stop, Look, Listen

More years ago than I care to remember (yes, my face does resemble a roadmap) I took driver's ed in school.  Be nice now, it was NOT in a Model T!  This was in the day and age when there wasn't a crossing arm at every railroad track crossing.  A mantra etched in the mind of the instructor whenever we approached any tracks was "stop-look-listen" and the instructor was very liberal at passing that sage advice along to us newbies.  The purpose of that simplistic advice is obvious.  It likely kept a lot of people alive.

I don't believe that mantra should be forgotten in today's world.  It is too important to simply discard or forget.  To be sure, it is rarely be needed at railroad crossings anymore.  Nowadays most, if not all, have crossing gates to warn us of the danger.  But what about in our personal lives?

When I view the intersection of my mind and my heart as a railroad crossing, here is what comes to mind:

• my mind can easily be like a runaway train...a trainwreck waiting to happen (how many times have I proven that!)
• God does often speak to my heart

See where I'm going with this one? 

In God's infinite wisdom, He gave us all the ability to make choices.  In the case of some hard learners (like me), bad choices are made easily, and they often come with bad results for both me and sometimes to those around me.  Choices begin in the mind---do I do it or not, do I say it or not, do I want it or not, etc., etc., ad infinitum. 

With each choice also comes a consequence.  Consequences are either rewarding (when good choices are made) or crosses we must bear (when bad choices are made).  If I am like most folks, I like comfort.  And high on my comfort list is the rewarding feeling I get from the consequence of a good decision.

So when I find myself pressed on a significan choice I have to make, it really helps me to:

1. stop what I'm doing or thinking and just be still for a bit....
2. look for what God might be showing me
3. listen to what He is saying to me

It sure beats having to bear the consequence of another train wreck.

The more I decide to use the old adage of stop-look-listen to my daily life, the better I will be.