Stay a While?

There are few things antsier than my right pointer finger as it flies across my car’s radio console. Trying to find the best song, it presses buttons for over a dozen pre-programmed stations, one after the other, giving each channel only a couple of seconds to state its case. A few times, my finger has gotten so carried away that it moves on to a new station before I even realize that I liked the song the previous channel was playing.

Modern technology has only enabled my incorrigible rapid-fire finger. Now that radio consoles display both the song title and artist alongside the station name, I don’t have to wait for a familiar lyric or beat before I can name that tune. The car does it for me.

It’s a beautiful thing. But there’s just one catch: sometimes the timing is a few seconds off.

I was recently flipping through stations when my eyes landed on Jodeci’s oldie-but-goodie “Stay.” Naturally, I decided to stick with that channel. However, there was a disconnect between what I saw and what I heard. The display read “Jodeci,” but my ears registered a less enthralling modern R&B hit. Then, within seconds, the correct song title and artist appeared. Jodeci was nowhere in sight. Ugh.

Since the song seemed to be winding down, I decided to stay with that station… for a little while.

My waiting was not in vain. After a few moments, K-Ci, Jo Jo, Dalvin, and DeVante made their entrance as my real-time listening caught up with the projected programming. Good thing I hadn’t changed the channel.

I think that sometimes the decisions we make in life can be as hasty as my music choices. We give jobs, situations, places, and people only a moment to prove themselves worthy of our attention. We’re sifting through options so quickly that we don’t get a definitive read on them. We fail to realize that sometimes what is playing out in real-time before our eyes will soon phase out.

However, God, in His infinite wisdom and supreme patience, knows that we make rash decisions with limited knowledge. He predicts that we will try to change the channel so quickly that we miss the next blessing on the line-up. So sometimes, He graciously gives us a glimpse of what is to come in order to keep us in the right place.

It’s in those moments, when God has provided a clue of what lies ahead, that He asks us not to touch that dial. He knows that though we grow impatient, only a moment separates the present from the future. So He encourages us, allowing us to glimpse future greatness in hopes that we won’t change course. He promises it will get better. Then like Jodeci, He asks, “Won’t you just stay… for a little while?”

To what channel is your life tuned today? Don’t make the same mistake my antsy fingers sometimes do. Make sure you know what’s playing before you make a decision. And who knows? God just might let you take a peek at His play list.

Easy listening, my friends. And happy living.