Detours

Have you ever been on a trip and encountered a detour?  I bet most of you have.  Were you glad about it?  Did you enjoy the fact that you had to take a different route to your destination--a route that might take you a little bit (or a lot) longer? 

I think that most (if not all) of us encounter detours in our lives, too.  We think we know the path we are going to take.  We think that the path we've chosen is the best one.  Then we find out that, nope, God's got something different in mind--something we never imagined for ourselves before.  And it's scary.

So what do we do?  Do we take this detour?  Or do we find an alternate route (which would be a route of our own making--our own way)?  This reminds me of a very familiar passage of scripture found in Isaiah 53:6:  "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."  Yep.  Our natural, human (and sheep-like) tendency is to go our own way.

The cool thing is this:  if we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we also have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.  He is the One Who makes it possible to take the detour and go HIS way.  And God's ways are the best ways.  (I think I learned that from a Veggie Tales song.)  Okay, I guess I learned this from Jeremiah 29:11, too.  " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " Ephesians 3:20 also says, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."

And about the whole "It's scary!" excuse?  Well, we as believers can't use that excuse, either.  Because Jesus has already promised, " 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' " (Hebrews 13:5, 6)

I think it's time to kick Satan to the curb, quit believing his lies, and start really living all-out for Christ!  No matter what, it really will be okay, because our final destination involves living with Jesus forever.  What's better than that?!

So when you encounter that detour in your life, instead of getting scared and backing away, embrace it with confidence.  Jesus goes before you.  And you just need to follow the Leader.