thoughts that challenge the status quo of modern, western christianity

Friday, November 28, 2008

Detours & Destinations

On our way to MO a couple of days ago, I did not understand the directions given me by Mapquest, so I took the way I thought should have worked - emphasis on should have! Well, we ran into a detour. So now I am wandering around attempting to find a more direct route to my destination. Finally, I found a road I was familiar with and made it to my destination.

Today I was thinking, how many times the Lord takes us on a detour. We have our lives and plans laid out. We are going places. Yet in the midst of these we hit the orange detour sign. Some are minor, some are major. Maybe it is the lost sale, the change in routine, the relationship break up, job lay off, sickness, disease, maybe even the loss of a spouse or child. The one thing for sure is that they are almost always unexpected and undesired.

The challenge of His detours is that so many times we focus on the detour. We do the www: "why me," "whine" and "worry" about what we are going thru. (come on somebody, can I get an amen!) Oh believe me, I am preaching to myself! In my 48 years of life and 28 years of living for God I have done the www so many times. I am not downplaying the emotions or trauma of some of these detours. They can be rough and down right frightening.

It is so like my human nature to focus on the detour, when I believe it is the destination I should be looking for. Sometimes I may know the destination: other times I may not. Yet if I am His, maybe it is time I just have to trust him (oh now I am preaching - to myself). Unfortunatley or fortunatley in living in His kingdom, I have been thru enough detours that I am begining to learn to focus on the destination: where He is taking me.

I do not like the detour - but I love the destination

It is the holiday season here in the U.S. One of the most stressful times for many individuals. If you find that you are on a detour in life, please try and not focus on the detour. Seek Him to get an idea of the destination - look to see where He is leading you. Oh and check your spiritual shock absorbers.

Lord Bless

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have enjoyed your blog very much. You have an amazing insight. I know that the Lord leads and guides us. At times we have "our destination" and the Lord has his. I pray I allways want the Lord's destination in my life. I have discovered that nothing in this life happens by chance. The Lord allows things, places, people in our lives and he chooses when to remove. We must keep our spiritual, human eyes on him or we will lose our way. I do get caught up in the "detour" at times too. I do use the www's too. But I have discovered that as long as I am faithful and even though I may create my own mess the Lord will bring me thru. Our God is faithful and forgiving even when we mess up.
God Bless you, your family, your ministry!!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Great thought. Yeah, I am definitely guilty of the "www's" ("why me," "whine" and "worry"). Most times it's my first reaction before I step back and realize that this is God working. Carol & I have done our share of traveling and we understand the detours you are referring to. It's a lot easier to deal with the detours on the roads, but the ones that affect our lives we have a problem with. I can remember some detours we were forced to take while traveling and we ended up being really glad we took them. Usually there was some beautiful site, or little country store or magnificent countryside we would have never seen had our trip not been suddenly redirected. Our lifes detours have been that way as well. When they happen we are jolted and don't like to get off of the chosen path. But afterwards we find we are glad for the detours because of the people we have met or the positive changes that have come in our lives. A detour is a relatively small thing when compared to the whole trip. We are going through a MAJOR detour right now but the things we have gained from it make the whole trip worthwhile. It makes getting to our final destination even more exciting. Thanks for the blog!!

Jessica (I've survived a brain tumor!) said...

You just don't know how timely that reminder is! Thursday, after enjoying turkey and friends, we came home and I put up my Christmas decorations. I added lights to the tree and decorated my mantle. Then I sat back and watched the lights that are just so pretty to me. All of a sudden, I just started crying because all the memories of the last holiday season came flooding back in. I don't remember hardly anything last December, but I remember staring at the lights of the tree and I dozed in and out of a drug induced sleep, often in pain. Suddenly, I found myself in a pity party, which is dumb since that was then and this is now. I don't know why I went through that ordeal last year. I don't have a clue what God's destination is, but I trust Him. Where He leads, I will follow. Thanks for such a timely blog!

Martin Schmaltz said...

You were someone I thought about as I wrote this.

Armando said...

Excellent post. Great stuff!