What My Daily Commute Teaches Me About Patience and Trust

I thought I had my commute all figured out. Most days, I would get up from my kitchen table and walk about 30 feet to my office. It was glorious. No traffic jams, no stress, just pure convenience. No time wasted in transitions; I could simply move from one part of my life to another.

Then, a couple of years ago, everything changed. I accepted a role about ten miles away. It doesn't sound too bad, but that distance involves traveling over some of the most congested highways in Toronto. Most of the time, my commute works out just fine, but it's not something I can always count on. Occasionally, I get hopelessly stuck in traffic and end up being very late.

Recently, I had one of those mornings. I left on time, but the night before, there had been an armed robbery, and a suspect fled. Shockingly, one of them stopped their car on the elevated highway and jumped off, severely injuring himself in the process. The next morning, the highway was closed and traffic was gridlocked. The commute turned into a nightmare.

In the moment, it was hard, but it was also an opportunity for me to learn patience and realize that I'm not in control of my life, from the big events down to small things like my commute.

Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Usually, when I read this verse, I think about the big decisions in life—the plans we make for careers, marriages, housing purchases, and other major choices. But I believe it applies to the small things too.

When we get up in the morning and hop into our cars, we have an idea of what our commute will look like. But sometimes things turn out very differently than we had planned. It's easy to feel frustrated when our plans don't materialize. Yet I'm comforted by the truths of this proverb. We have a God who is sovereign over both the big and small aspects of our lives. Nothing escapes His notice.

We may not understand what is happening or how it all fits together, but this allows us to relax when things don't go our way and to know that God is still on the throne of the universe. He loves us and everything is going according to His plan.

Commuting is a good case study for this lesson. If I can learn that I'm not in control of my commute, then perhaps I can also learn that I'm not in control of the bigger things either. But there is someone who is in control, and I can learn patience and relax into His tender care.