Rerouting...

I remember driving down that narrow road feeling lost mixed with a bit of helplessness, frustration, and fear.

It happened in December of 2014 after leaving my kid's cheer squad Christmas party.  We had been in Hot Springs all day for a cheer competition.  Afterwards, we celebrated at a pizza parlor with the rest of the squad.  Then, my kid and I parted ways.  She rode back with her dad so that I could attend a friend's birthday dinner in Little Rock.  So, I was driving along the interstate, alone in the car, headed out of Hot Springs, and depending on the directions from my phone's GPS to guide me.....and then it happened.  I messed up!  I wasn't paying attention!  And I missed an Exit.  No big deal, right?  I was fully confident that my GPS would get me back on track in just a matter of two, maybe 3 turns.  Well, it didn't happen that way.  As I got off on the next available Exit, I looked down at my phone to see "Rerouting" on the display.  I stared and stared, but it didn't update fast enough so I just drove.  Then a new set of directions came up, and I proceeded to follow this new path.

This new set of directions did not immediately take me back to the interstate (as I had expected) to be on my merry way.  I had to make a few turns and travel down a long, curvy, narrow road.  As I was driving along this road, light faded to darkness.  Remember, I was just on the interstate maybe two minutes prior and the skies appeared blue and settled.  Then out of nowhere, it started to get dark all around me.  I was in an unfamiliar place, in the middle of nowhere, going nowhere fast, and the road seemed to get longer.  Picture a wooded area at night that hardly anyone travels or knows about because it is the back road to the back road....yea, that.  Although my GPS told me this was the road I needed to be on to get back on track, I still felt lost.  Then came the frustration as I blamed the "stupid GPS" for not giving me accurate directions and clearly getting me lost.  And then came the fear, and my thoughts were overtaken with the paralysis that comes with fear.....

"What if something happens and my car stops and someone pretending to help me comes along and takes me and does harm to me and then my kid will have to be raised without her mother and what about my family and what if no one finds me because they didn't know I was back here.....????  God, please help me get out of here!  Thank you, Lord, (in advance) for showing me the way out and for protecting me and covering me in the blood of Jesus!"

As my thoughts of defeat turned to thoughts of faith and praise, I came upon the main road that led me back to the interstate.  Finally!  I was back on track.

How many times in your life have you felt "off track", "traveling a road alone", and "lost"?  Undoubtedly, at least one time.....and if you're really honest with yourself, probably several times.  These things about life and the way God teaches us (His children) strikes me as nothing short of amazing.  As soon as I met back up with the main road, God immediately downloaded into my spirit the spiritual lesson behind what had just occurred.  I could have pulled over and praised Him right there on that interstate.

Sometimes we are going on in life and just living according to the status quo.  Then, we encounter varying situations that gets us away from life "as we knew it" and on a different path.  That Exit that I missed can be synonymous with things we miss in life as it relates to listening to God.  It could be that God has given us a directive, but instead of walking in obedience, we exercise our free will and conclude that we're going to do that thing another way....our own way.  As a result of that act of disobedience, we end up in a dark place in our lives that has us feeling lost and like we can't find our way.  Don't be ashamed of that place.....that place forced you to grow and here you can come to know God in a way you had not known Him before.  You're not really lost, you've just gotten rerouted.

Perhaps, your missed Exit wasn't out of disobedience, but divinely orchestrated by God.  

"A person's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?"

-Proverbs 20:24 (NIV)

God looked at you in your "status quo" situation and saw that there needed to be a change, a transition, a shift in your life.  In order to do this though, He has to pull you off that comfortable road you're on, away from the busyness of life, away from the distractions.  It can be quite uncomfortable as God takes you through a period of transition, but trust that it's for your good.  There's no physical body around for you to depend on. God has gotten you all alone.  He has something to say.  Are you listening?

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

-Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

As you're going through, you won't always understand exactly what is happening and why it is happening, but continue to trust God in it.  There may be days when you'll get frustrated with the process.  There may be times when you want to blame God for putting you in that place.  Other times, the enemy will try to send fear to you in an effort to get you to doubt God and His promises that have already been pronounced over your life.  But what will get you through, what will keep you from crumbling is your FAITH and your PRAISE in it.  Often times, God will put us into certain situations to check our response.  Will we continue to believe Him?  Will be remain alert enough to learn the lesson He's trying to teach us?  Will we allow Him to work IN us to mold us into that person that He says we are?  I know that situation can get really dark and looking through the lens of our physical eyes, we see no end in sight.  I have wanted to turn around on many occasions when in an uncomfortable position, but God kept me there for a reason.  God has not gotten you to this place to leave you, and He didn't do it to set you up for hurt, harm, or danger.  Your "REROUTING" serves a tremendous purpose in your life.  Let His work be made perfect in you and watch the transformation that will take place in your own life and in the lives of those around you, those who YOUR testimony is assigned to.  Remember that God does NOTHING without purpose.  He doesn't get pleasure out of your misery.  So, if you feel like you're in a dark and lonely place or a really low place in life, turn your thoughts and actions to those of praise.  Be deliberate in your faith, even when you don't feel like it.  Soon, you will meet back up with that main road better than you were when you first got off of it.

"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."

-Jeremiah 29:12 (NIV)

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

-Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

"I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

-Jeremiah 29:14 (NIV)

Be fabulously blessed!

-Tasha