How to Move Through a Line Faster

We hate waiting in line.

Waiting brings out the worst in us. 

Partly what makes us hate waiting in line is that the rules are clear. It's black and white. There's no room for grey. 

The rules are ingrained in us before we even start our formal schooling.

I teach nine year olds. Do you know what the number one grievance I hear on a daily basis? So-and-so cut me. After nine years of teaching, the tattle makes my right eye twitch.

We teach our kids the rules of the line long before nine though. 

In traffic, we become irate if someone cuts in front of us. Or if someone runs a stop light or goes too early at a four way stop. 

If we are waiting for a parking spot, we threaten anyone who even looks at our parking spot with a gaze that can kill. 

At the grocery, we become better than any analyst employed by ESPN. Our brains are capable of pulling off things computers can't. We can look at the lines and the cashier and make an informed decision about which one we will spend the less time in. 

And we won't even consider what the 20 items or less check out lane does to our soul. 

If one could lose their salvation, it would be in the drive-thru at McDonald's. Pretty sure the devil camps out there. 

The thought of someone breaking the rules raises our heart rate. And if someone is actually brave enough to do it...well that will ruin our day and we know where those people are headed. 

However, how you wait in lines are a mirror into your heart. Those feelings reflect what is going on in your heart. They reveal how you are maturing as a Christian.

Talk about a gut check?

Any time God wants to spiritually humble me, He places my feet in a line. Lines make your heart do a lot of talking.

In a line, you don't hear Jesus saying the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Even though He wasn't talking about waiting in a Starbucks. 

Lines bring about feelings of entitlement. Like I was here first and so I will assert my will over yours. I belong here and you don't.

We ignore what Paul taught us that we should consider others better than ourselves. But in a line the rules are clear, so this is okay, right?

We boldly ignore Jesus' command to love others. To lay down our lives for our friends. We won't even allow someone to have a better parking spot. 

We roll our eyes and get irritated with the people around us. This doesn't sound like love. 

It feels as if all the fruit the Spirit has been carefully tending to grow into something special becomes spoiled by a worm. Even though that's not true. 

What are you to do? 

Anytime you are somewhere where you are clearly first and right, you need to keep the entirety of the gospel in your mind and heart. (That's easy enough, huh?) Don't let things as trivial and temporary as your place in line or a parking space steal the joy and peace in your life. Be mindful of those feelings and thoughts and take them captive as the Apostle Paul taught.

You won't physically move through the line quicker, but you'll be able to see tangible evidence of the Spirit's work in your life.

Confession: I actually wrote this on my phone while waiting in line. I didn't like what I saw in myself. 

How do you do waiting in line?