A route not so obvious to me

I sat in traffic the other morning.  As the cars ahead slowed to a crawl, I first thought I should have taken a different road, one much quicker, one that would shave off a few minutes.  And then, I realized that God slowed me down for a reason.  Perhaps...  to listen to Him.

Sometimes God's way appears to be the slowest route of all.  And sometimes the most absurd.  "Why would You have sent me this way?"

It is often not what I would have chosen, not what I intended, and certainly not what I had planned.

And I am reminded of the most transforming words in the Bible, the verses that begin with the words "But God..."

That reality changes everything.  God does not just show up.  He has been waiting for you.

I have no idea what you are going through right now.  But two things I do know is that everyone struggles with something.  And you are not alone.  God is there. God is faithful, even in this.

In what appears to be a mystery, or surely a mistake, or a wrinkle in time, God has something different in mind.  God has placed much more on my radar, things I cannot even identify yet, some things I will never realize in my lifetime, but all bursting with purpose.

In 1967, teenager Joni Eareckson inadvertently dove into shallow waters on a beautiful summer's day and broke her neck.  In that very moment, she became a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down.  For weeks, she lay on a Stryker frame in a sterile hospital room, crying out in deep despair, and desiring to end her life.  But the changing point in her life came when she stopped asking "Why, God?" and began asking, "What, God?"

Step by step, she worked her way through rehab and became an artist, musician, author, and an international advocate for the disabled.  She is now 66 years old.

In our culture, we worship efficiency, goal setting, and that huge idol of the finish line.  But the profound value, the significance and the meaning is not just what becomes of this particular situation, but His purposes that are woven in the journey itself.

And sometimes that means
what does not make sense
                             to me at all,
but all the sense in the world
      in God's design,
not just for me
   but everyone around me.

Help me, O LORD,
to be aware of the deeper part,
that which has nothing to do
             with circumstances
but everything to do with You.

God redeems.
              Even this.

...Who calls into existence
the things that do not exist.

                   Romans 4. 17