Detour Ahead

As I was listening to the Hope + Help podcast on the “Age of Self” this week, I was thinking back over my life and the various things that have brought me to where I am today. It occurred to me that if I had been the author of my story, it would have been a straightforward progression from A to Z. For example, knowing what I know now, it seems more logical that I should have majored in accounting in college. But if I’d majored in accounting I would have had to attend a different school and connected with different people and may not have ended up in this job, and so on.

Choosing a college? Not the one you'd assumed for most of high school.
   Majoring in biology? Not leading to the career you intended.
      Grad school major? Sorry, program cancelled.
         Job opening? Not in the state you want.
            Change of departments? Not for long.

And those were just the career related changes. There were plenty more twists relationally, emotionally, and spiritually.

God had His owns reasons for taking me down a winding path to get me here. At the time, each turn in the path felt like a little death to self. (Maybe that’s why they’re called dead ends.) The plans I had for myself had to be surrendered and changed to fit God’s plans. Each one was a wound to my pride in thinking I had everything figured out and under control. And each was a test of whether I was going to trust God’s designs or cling to my own ideas.

Many of us probably memorized Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV): “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” We get this mental picture of the road that goes straight ahead without any detours, but that’s rarely how it works out, because God’s ways are not our ways. (My pastor had a great illustration of a path that looks straight until you unfold the paper and see a different line.) We may think we know God’s will, but along comes a dead end and we wonder where God intends for us to go next. Does He know what He’s doing? Does He know that this changes everything in our plans? Of course He does, but we need to grow in faith and humility in order to get where He’s taking us.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 “For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” Although Paul was talking about major challenges he’d faced, the same is true of minor course corrections too. Anything that brings death to self is an opportunity to find our true life in Christ. It’s actually a good thing even though it is painful at the time. God specializes in raising the dead to new life.

Paul also wrote, “[Put] off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires… put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22, 24). Our plans are usually for our career and family, but God’s plans are for our sanctification and growth in Christlikeness. We are more useful for His kingdom work when we come to the end of ourselves (again and again) and learn to rely on His strength and wisdom and guidance.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.