My husband and I sighed in frustration during a recent road trip. A detour? We just wanted to get where we were going without any delays. But it seemed we didn’t have any choice in the matter.
The detour from the interstate where we’d been buzzing along at 55-75 miles-per-hour led us to a country road where the speed limit alternated between 35-45. Mostly 35. In our mountainous area, that also meant that the pavement twisted around and around like a never-ending snake. It didn’t take much time for us to realize that this route would be a much longer drive.
Then we realized something: It sure was more beautiful as we drove through wooded areas rather than on miles and miles of impersonal interstate. On this detour, huge trees towered over us. Busy streams bubbled and splashed beside the road. God’s handiwork was on display everywhere. Our stress levels sank as we talked together, admiring the scenery.
We drove by lovely old homes and postcard-pretty tracts of land. We went past quaint little towns and villages, and even stopped to enjoy some of the one-of-a-kind shops—places where we’d never have ventured without the detour. What we’d considered an inconvenience became a blessing.
Friends, it’s the same way in our lives. Those detour moments—job changes, health issues, relationship challenges—all those things that take us away from the expected are never what we plan…but God always has a purpose for them. None of us like those moments, but just like that mountain detour, there are blessings to be found…if we just look for them.
The roadblocks of life can teach us many things. They can:
1. Slow us down enough so that we can hear God’s voice, so that we can spend time talking with Him.
2. Show us the beauty of what He’s done in our lives, the things for which we need to be grateful.
3. Open our eyes to new possibilities. Things that we’d never have considered otherwise.
4. Teach us to look for the blessing instead of focusing on the situation.
Lord, instead of grumbling about the detours of life, help me to see what You want me to see and to take the path that You have waiting for me. Amen.
