The Side Road

Isaiah 58:11 (ESV)

¹¹ And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.

I found a note I had written to the Lord in my journal asking Him what He intended to have me do while I was on a particular "side road." In other words, that day I must have felt my Lord had detoured me. If I remember correctly, I found myself reading a book I had not intended to read. I picked it up and found the Lord spoke to me immediately. Does the Lord have you taking a detour? Did you plot out a different course only to find that you have been led a different way? For all of us who are plotters and planners, it is hard to regroup and go another direction when we think our course has been set. For example, Matthew 2:12 says, "And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they (the wise men) departed to their own country another way." The wise men were still headed toward their original destination, but their path had changed. Another instance of this happening is I Corinthians 16:8-9 where Paul said, "But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." In Paul's case, the plan changed keeping him from moving on in order to seize the opportunity before him. It could be the Lord has you on a side road for your own protection or for a special task. I think the lesson we need to learn is "don't despise the side road." There really isn't a side road. It may not be the road we thought we would take, but it's the road God had planned for us all along!