Sometimes, life leads you on an unexpected road.
Back in college, I had a date scheduled with a woman one evening after class. That afternoon, I left the University of Kentucky campus and set out to drive the 30 minutes home and get ready. But along the way, I hit a detour that took me along some rural side roads. Pretty soon, I was lost. Two hours later, I ended up in Ohio!
I finally found the interstate and turned around to try and make it home in time for my date. The clock was ticking. I could have been stressed and irritated. But looking back, I remember that detour as a blessing.
I saw beautiful rolling hills and stately old farmhouses. Horses lolled in poppy-strewn fields. I cut through tiny downtown main streets with antiquated old shops. I was seeing things I would have never seen had I continued on my direct course home.
It’s easy to get frustrated when we find ourselves thrown off course.
We want to reach our desired destination as soon as possible. But detours can provide unexpected blessings. And maybe some detours are what God intended for us. We don’t see the big picture as He does. Maybe sometimes God wants us to take the scenic route.
It’s the same with relationships. If we’re dating, we’d prefer to find our soulmate sooner than later. We want to start our marriage and family right away. But often we are not ready for that so God directs us off the direct route.
You might have been matched with people online whom you started communicating with, but the interaction led nowhere. You might have had some less-than-stellar dates. It’s frustrating and disappointing. When will you ever find love?
But maybe instead of fretting that you haven’t found “the one” yet, you could learn to see the detours as a blessing.
It’s often good to meet new people, even if you don’t end up together. At a minimum, you could make a new friend. And each new date gives you practice at communicating better. It provides you the opportunity to discern what you want and don’t want. It refines you.
Let’s go a little deeper. What if you’ve been married but it didn’t work out? Divorce, or the end of any relationship you hoped would work, is devastating. Suddenly you’re on a detour you never expected or wanted. Often the scenes along that route are not so pretty. They are sad and painful.
But if we ask God to continue steering our lives, even these disappointing detours can lead us to a place of blessings we never imagined.
“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). God works for our good always, but He doesn’t promise that process will be straightforward. It may have detours along the way.
God may also use detours to protect you from harm. When King Herod heard that Jesus was born, he sent the magi to locate Jesus and tell the king where he was. Herod intended to kill the child. Matthew 2:12 says: “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.”
God redirected the magi in order to save Jesus, the baby who would end up saving us all.
A detour led to the salvation of all humankind.
The Jars of Clay song “Scenic Route” says: “I know we could get there much faster if we wanted to / But that isn’t what you and I came here to do.”
So don’t fight the detours you will inevitably hit along the road to finding love and happiness. You can’t control them anyway. Ask God to help you enjoy them. If you are present and patient, if you surrender to them, you will experience things you would have missed on the direct path.
By the way, I finally made it back in time for my date that night in college. We had a good time. But I didn’t end up marrying her. Years later, I found someone else and today we are happily married. Looking back, I’m glad I took the scenic route to get there.
