One of the things I have learned about Ohio is that there is an actual “roadwork season.” In northern climates, it gets cold enough that roadwork slows down and halts. The absence of roadwork in the winter months means an increase of projects the rest of the year.
 
When the weather is nice, road crews are running full-force across the city. It’s not a matter of if, but when you will hit a roadwork that requires a detour. We all know the dread of seeing the detour sign. Isn’t amazing how quickly feelings of anger, angst, and aggravation swell within our spirit at the prospect of having to go out of the way to reach our desired destination?
 
A meaningful reflection of Jesus happens as we walk through the detours of life.
 
Detours are evil. We don’t like being led somewhere we didn’t plan to go. We don’t like being slowed down. We don’t like detours while driving and we definitely don’t enjoy them in life.
 
Many of us work hard to remove all unknowns from our lives, and yet we experience detours all the time. Detours force us into something different, which we don’t like. Can I suggest that different might be the best thing. God regularly brings different into our lives with the purpose of benefitting us, those around us, and His Kingdom.
 
Truth: Different doesn’t have to be negative
 
Different May Mean:

  • Later — Getting different than what we expected doesn’t mean the anticipated won’t ever happen, it just means that God wants to do something different in this moment. Different might mean decided, but it may also mean delayed (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  
  • Better — The different we experience may end up being better than what we were hoping for in the first place (Ephesians. 3:20).
  • Needed — Different is often unwelcomed because it is unwanted, but it may be what we need. What’s the lesson God is trying to teach? What’s the belief we need to adopt?
  • Important — God may lead us on a different path so we can be where He wants us to be (Acts 8:26-40)
  • Setup — When different hits like ton of bricks, we can feel defeated and hopeless, but God may just be setting the stage for something bigger than we can comprehend (Habakkuk 1:5)

 
We can get aggravated, overwhelmed, and disheartened when “different” shows up; or we can use “different” as our trigger to run to Jesus and experience Him in the midst of the circumstance. Different is coming…How will you respond?
 
Keep Reflecting Jesus!