Detours

The other day we were going out of town for the day, and came to a sign along the highway that said "road closed ahead".  I never believe those signs. Sometimes signs like that have been posted and I have still managed to get through the roadblock.  So, we drove around the roadblock hoping that the sign really didn't mean what it said, only to find that indeed the road was closed.  Literally, a whole bridge was out. No way around that one.  We turned around and made our way back to the designated detour route which took us on narrow, bumpy, country roads.  Eventually we made it back to the highway. I really don't like detours. They are inconvenient, and just plain annoying.

Life has a way of imposing its own roadblocks.  There's been times in my life when I'm going along...everything is going fine and good... just like I've planned...got a good job...making money... relationships are good....I'm on track with my sense of call and purpose... and.then... BAM.  Roadblock.

In some ways, our life seems to be on a bit of a detour right now.  Seems like a season during which God is saying, "lay it all down, just wait, trust me to lead you, I know were you're going even if you don't see clearly right now."

That can be hard.

So here's what I'm learning about the detour times of life:

• My nature is to strongly dislike roadblocks and detours and to do everything possible to get around them.  I don't like things that mess with my plans and sense of where I'm going. Yet,
• Roadblocks are an opportunity to meet God and experience God in a profound way, in ways that I might not have otherwise
• Roadblocks are an opportunity to redeem the time and find meaning and joy in different and new ways.
• Maybe the roadblock isn't even about me so much as it is about someone else and what God is doing in them.
• A roadblock doesn't have to change my life mission... I am still to be about loving God and loving others.  Those things do not change during a detour.
• A roadblock can be for our own protection, keeping us from a painful or devastating situation.

We all experience roadblocks and what feels like a detour.  Maybe rather than fighting and resisting them, we learn to embrace them and ask, "What is it that God wants to do in me and through me during this time?" And learn to see life's detours as the gifts that they can be. And, for me, to see the detour not as a side or alternative path, but to embrace it as the best and the right path.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths."  Proverbs 3:5-6