Course Corrections

I attended college in Dallas, Texas. The Dallas/Fort Worth area has many highways. Each city has a highway that runs north/south through the heart of the city. There is an east/west highway going through the down towns of both Dallas and Fort Worth. There are also large loops that encircle each city. Just about everywhere you want to go in the DFW Metroplex, you get on one of these highways.

One night as I was returning home from work, I found myself unable to change lanes in time to access the exit ramp from one highway to another. I was a bit frustrated with myself for not paying better attention and getting in the right lane earlier. I knew how crazy the mix master can be. Soon, I found myself continuing south when I wished I had been going west. My destination had been southwest of the location of that interchange, but I always took the highway west out of the downtown area and then exited south to return to the campus.

After missing my exit, I had quickly decided that turning around would be more hassle than it was worth. The road I was following would meet the southern section of the loop and I could travel westbound from there.  I would then need to go a short distance north. Following these roads, I would make it back to the dorm approximately five minutes later then I would have with my originally intended route.

I learned a lesson that evening about my spiritual journey. As I drove, God began speaking to me about my life. Sometimes I would miss the ideal path, due to inattentiveness or self interest. But this does not always mean that I have gone in the opposite direction of God. This new path will take me out of the way and cause some delays. Following God’s original design is always the best and most expedient plan. Drifting off course a bit, does not, however, mean that everything I do from that moment on is out of, or contrary to, God’s will.

Prior to that evening, I saw my walk with God as a straight line. If you stepped off the line, you were totally off doing your own thing; apart from God. This can be true when defiance and rebellion are present. But in the case of inattentiveness or confusion, there may be missed opportunities, but not a total separation. I had always felt that in order to get back in line with God, I had to return to and re-enter at the point I had exited. This meant that every step in the mean time had been wasted. It was, like a board game. If someone landed on your piece, you go back to the beginning and start all over. I wasn’t always sure exactly when and where I had drifted away. Therefore I didn’t even know where or how to get back in step with God.

But God is so much bigger than even our mistakes. When I step off his ideal path, he has another that He will take me down. That detour will likely contain some unnecessary “potholes” or trials of life. It may take some time and energy away from the originally intended, perfect plan that God has. There will be some extra distance to get back on track. But in the end, God is big enough to get me where he wants me. He can make the new path as good as, or even better than, the original. Even my straying doesn’t surprise him.

Would it have been better for me to take the original exit ramp?  I would have gotten back to campus five minutes sooner. Most evenings that was the route I continued to take.  Do I regret going the wrong way that night?  Not at all!  In the years since that night, I have taken great comfort in this lesson. Knowing that God is bigger than my mistakes, gives me peace. There is security in understanding that He will put me back on the correct path; the one He has for me.

We follow the God who is bigger than any trial that can be in our path. He will see us through any circumstance. God is not only bigger than the obstacles in our path; He’s also bigger than our poor decisions, our confusion or our desires to simply follow our own ways. He will not only deliver us from the things that come against us, he will also deliver us from us. If our hearts are set on following Him, He will bring us back to the correct path. We will find ourselves reentering this path at the God chosen point. Our own detour may have wasted some time and energy, but God will not continually send us to the back of the line.

The apostle Paul talks about running the race, and we are all commanded to run our own race. We are told to complete our course. God has made provision for when we step off the intended path. This provision is grace and mercy. “… [God’s gift] is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God’s mercy. [It depends not on one’s own willingness, nor on his strenuous exertion, as in running a race, but on God’s having mercy on him.]” (Romans 9:16)  So look to this merciful God, and ask Him to lead you back into the race. God will get you where He intends you to be, even if it made be a day late. But even then, God is beyond the constraints of time. He will make all things good in His time.

Just as my new route took a circuitous path back to campus, your path will also get you where God intends you to be.