Sometimes There’s A Detour

Recently, it was early morning, and I was headed toward an appointment for new reading glasses. Look! Just in time! There’s a detour. Did I know about it? Maybe. Did I remember? Definitely not. So, I hopped onto a side street which became a pleasant distraction. Sometimes, there’s a detour.

Yes. Detours happen and can be distracting and stressful. Long-range detours that are well-publicized can be planned for, but those sudden ones that you find yourself trapped within? Well, they create much stress!

Life is full of detours. Relationships. Careers. Financial goals. Every aspect of life has a potential for a detour. When they show up occasionally, well, we can deal with it. But let them all happen at once? Wow!

My trip down most roads always keeps me looking far ahead to determine if I should stay in this lane or that. Most of the time this action prepares me for what’s happening way up there and gives me time to plan my reaction. Sometimes you are chugging along, and boom! Warning lights! Signs! Quick! Make a choice! Left. Right. Pause. Even Backtrack.

Heading home from an out-of-state driving trip a few years ago, I just happened to hear the news of a major accident ahead. I backtracked a few miles and took a leisurely drive through the backroads and mountain paths to get home quicker than had I sat in 10 miles of stop and go angered drivers!

How Do You Handle Detours?

Not all detours are bad. One thing I’ve learned, unless there’s a disaster I’m headed toward, then I often appreciate the detour – as long as I can enjoy the experience. Yet, one thing I’ve found about my personality, sometimes I have to force myself to enjoy the moment. What do I do? Change my perspective. Allow my timing to slide. Look at some new scenes and think, “Wow! I might not have ever known this existed without a detour!”

Sometimes we handle detours well. You know, enjoy the scenery along the way. Other times we feel like we cannot enjoy the process. Had I found myself “stuck” in the 10-mile traffic jam, I would have kicked myself for not keeping my focus forward. That’s when I would have been the most upset. Why? I’m always looking forward! Why? To know what’s happening ahead!

“One of the major keys to success is to keep moving forward on the journey,
making the best of the detours and interruptions,
turning adversity into advantage.”
~John C. Maxwell

Don’t let yourself feel defeated.

What may be a detour may actually be the thing that saves your life, redirect your steps, or even opens a door of hope!

It’s All About Perspective

Our view, from our corner of life, is simply our perspective. It speaks much about how we look at life.

The Apostle Paul writes to the church in Rome and gives them a broad view of God’s plan in their life. Maybe they had never looked at it from this direction, but then again, most of us see our past better than our present or future.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, [think detours]
knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Now hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit
who was given to us.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:1-8 NKJV)

Since we often consider tribulations a detour of sorts, notice how Paul builds up from the lowest point. Tribulations [Detours] produce perseverance, then character, and finally hope. It’s a process.

Learning to Deal

If it’s all about our perspective, then the more we face detours the better we learn how to deal with them. We learn from each detour, and if we allow ourselves to feel failure, we learn that in itself detours are not the end.

Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street!” ~Zig Ziglar

Through my IT career, and church planting experience, I’ve faced many failures. In myself, the company I worked for, or the project I was responsible for. Though I may deal with the intricacies of a large project, budget, or technological growth, my worst failure has often been with people. Fixing detours around “things” is simple. Drop-10 and punt, backtrack and work-around, or even simply enjoy the pause of the moment. But with co-workers, families, friends, or even strangers, detours are a slow process and it’s from this we often more like a failure than any other time.

How do we handle other’s feelings at our failures? No amount of backtracking will fix every problem, nor will words of contrition. Sometimes it takes “time”. Too often I feel like there’s not enough time in the world for all detours to come to an end.

So. I learn to deal. Put up with. Ignore my view. Simply let others be themselves. Keep moving forward.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
(Psalms 23:4 NKJV)

Perhaps God…

Perhaps this is how God feels about all of us. We go through our own detours and stay stuck with our feelings. Failures. All the while, God knows the path before us and plans to help walk us back from the edge.

Look at Israel leaving Egypt. 40 years of “wandering”, one detour after another, until all the lessons are learned to ensure they are on track to enter the promised land.

Could it be detours are something given to us by God to help us recover our path forward? Sure. Why not!

It’s all about perspective. Insight. Willingness. Adapting. Let’s go!