Unfolding Grace in the Midst of My Detours

This past Friday, I decided to take a bike ride to pick up my daughter from daycare, on my lunch. I did the research on the best path, planned out when I could leave and how long it would take and left for the ride. Once I arrived at the school, I looked at my watch and saw that it took me almost ten minutes more to get to her school than I had anticipated. Panic set in, a bit, since I was on a time crunch for work but I picked her up and continued to head back.

The ride to your location always has to be the easiest; doesn't it? I felt like the ride back was all up hill and I was quickly getting tired. I made multiple stops, drank a ton of water and even my 2 year old started to notice I was struggling. "Mama, you okay?" she would say over and over. I would put on a happy face and tell her that mommy was just tired. By the time I reached the halfway point, I wondered how I was even going to make it home. I was exhausted, my knees felt like they were on fire and my lungs felt like I couldn't get any air. I knew I had pushed my body past it's point of workout verses overextended workout but I couldn't just give up and sit on the side of the road with my 2-year old. Nor did I think an Uber could help me.

I knew the path that I was supposed to take but didn't want to take that way because it was all up-hill the rest of the way home. How was I supposed to push my body any further? So, instead, I decided to go into a neighborhood and find a different way. Google would continuously tell me to make a U-turn but I ignored it and finally turned the maps app off. I was determined that my way would be faster and easier. Once I was home, I tracked my path and realized I had added more time onto my ride than I had to and if I had just stayed on the path I was told, I would have been home sooner and probably put less strain on my joints.

I realized that this was what I had been doing in my life through this financial hump we have been in. God has a plan but I think my way will be easier and faster. In the end, I began to see that if I had just trusted Him in the first place, life would have been fine and we probably would be out of this sooner. During this time of struggle, I have also shut off hearing God's voice by not reading His word and praying. I have felt so tired, at the end of the day, that I haven't wanted to be in His word or talk to Him. My peace and rest came from watching movies or just skipping everything and going to bed. My soul needed to find peace in God but I was determined to find it my way.

Maybe you are in the same spot I am. Are you struggling through a trial and want an easier way out? Maybe it feels like you have been in this trial for a long time and can't see the end of the road. Here are some tips for you while you wait.

1. Surrender Daily

   We need to give everything to God on a daily basis. Even when it is hard, God wants to take our lives and mold us. Sometimes that can be painful but in the end, we have been molded into a newer, stronger Christ follower. Surrendering daily also helps us let go of the need to be in control. When we want to be in control, we often times don't follow God's plan but make our own and that can led us down a path God never intended for us.

   
   

2. Stay in the Word

   When we stay out of God's word, it is easy not to have peace and hear God's voice. God speaks through scripture, especially through times.

   
   

3. Pray for alignment not just answers

   When we are praying, we want to make sure we are praying for God's will to be done. Often times, we think of God as a genie in a bottle who we can pray to and have everything fixed instantly. Sometimes God's answer is no because His plan is greater than our own. Sometimes God's answer is yes, but not the way you are wanting.

   
   

4. Be willing to wait

   Waiting is where we do the most growing. Sometimes God's answer is yes but we have to wait because He wants to mold us during that waiting period.

   
   

5. Pause before acting

   Before we make a decision, we should pray about it first instead of making rash decisions. I have made many of those in the past and it never goes well.

   
   

6. Remember His faithfulness

   When it seems like God is not there or God doesn't have your back, remember the ways He has brought you through a rough time in the past. If we look back at those moments, it reminds us how amazing God's plan is verses our plan and how God was the one working through it all.

   
   

7. Accept God's plan may look different

   At the end of the day, God's plan might very well be different than the plan we originally had. Sometimes God's path means:

   1. Slower progress

   2. Closed doors

   3. Detours that don't make sense... yet

      But His plan always leads to deeper peace, purpose, and ultimately, His glory.