My Eyes Were Opened

  While listening to the rebroadcast of the February 14th BYU devotional today titled "Messages of Love" I was also contemplating all of what I had perceived as inconveniences, bad luck or just things going wrong lately when my eyes were opened. A scene from last summer came to my mind, our Road Respect group was riding from SLC to Park City via emigration canyon onto the I-80 freeway. We had to use the freeway as there is no other alternative to Park City from emigration canyon. Riding a bike on the freeway with cars whizzing past at 80mph just inches from you can be a little unsettling for some and cause for concern. This particular day a car had caught on fire and was in flames, emergency vehicles were present and all of the traffic had been move over into the far left lanes and was at a stand still or moving very slowly. The entire right lane was blocked to traffic. The cyclists were able to use the right freeway lane which meant we didn't have to deal with all of the debris on the shoulder of the road or the speeding traffic. We all had a safe ride down the freeway.
  The spirit testified to me that this instance was a tender mercy of my Father in Heaven and an answer to many prayers. While a terrible inconvenience for those sitting in traffic and the man whose car was a total loss, there were 25-30 people on bikes that were safe that day because of a little inconvenience to a few people. Sometimes Excess is Necessary.

My mind has been whirling wth thougths of times when I have been slowed down or inconvenienced by an event and been frustrated by it. I have come to realize that many times the Lord is answering the prayers of someone else knowing that I am in a situation to deal with a little inconvenience and will still be ok. Maybe there was someone I was to meet or come in contact with. Maybe I was to learn patience and understanding. When I pray for safety, how many people will be inconvenienced so my prayer can be answered. When I'm inconvenienced is someone elses prayer being answered.. I'm so grateful to my Father in Heaven for allowing me to have this experience. I hope I will remember these thoughts and feelings and be less annoyed when things don't go right.

I shall never look at this type of inconvience the same again.