"Rerouting, rerouting."
The GPS always wants to fix my route when I go to an unfamiliar
destination. This usually happens when I
have a vague idea of which way to go but not of the exact destination. So I
tend to ignore the rerouting instructions until I get closer.
Not unlike real life either. For years my destination
was centered around my music career. I
worked very hard and spent countless hours working to build skill and
knowledge. Until one day the call for rerouting came. I didn’t listen right away, instead I tried
to put it off.
- One day, I will explore other things and do these things that I think I’d love to try.
- One day when the kids are grown and don’t need me so much, I’ll launch into the unknown.
- One day… One day…
The rerouting call kept growing though, and as I took
baby steps to test the waters, without actually changing my life completely, I began
to realize that it was the Lord who was insisting on the reroute. My heart had always been so fully invested in
my music and yet I felt the pull in a completely new direction. Once I began to understand
that it was the Lord that was turning the direction of my thoughts and plans, and yes, even the desires of my heart, I began to ponder what that really meant.
I jokingly call this rerouting of my career path my mid-life
crisis. In many ways I feel like I’m
starting all over again and many days I wish I had done these things years
ago. But I have reconciled the years
that I didn’t with the fact that the Lord wasn’t ready for me to make the lane
shift yet. I had to put the years into
what I did for a purpose, and if nothing else, I learned a whole lot and I did
enjoy it immensely. The time home
with my children during those years was one reason I chose to teach music
versus pursing a performing career.
In looking back, I see that the Lord has put a myriad of
experiences in my path so that I will be better prepared to share with others
the lessons I’ve learned. I am learning to listen to the rerouting instructions
and walking through open doors as they open.
It’s not always easy though.
Sometimes the rerouting instructions don’t quite make sense. I am a "lets get straight to it kind of girl," but life isn’t point a to b in a straight line.
It’s twisty, windy and steep.
Sometimes there’s long periods of time without a word, and sometimes
there’s news in a dumpster truck that unloads in your front yard. Being
prepared for any and all of it is hard unless you are determined to follow the
voice when it says rerouting.
While our physical lives can be a bit topsy turvy - whether it
is our health, job, finances, marriage, parenting - one thing that doesn’t have
to be chaotic is our spiritual life. Our daily
walk with God should be consistent and growing.
Personally that consistency was the hardest thing to maintain. It took me a very long time, to figure out
that I had to plan for it or it would never happen. The decision to lose sleep in order to
develop the spiritual muscle of discipline and consistency was the one decision
that changed it all. My life changed. My
mind changed. My thoughts changed.
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
If I could sit face to face with you and
have a cup of coffee and a muffin – I would tell you the same words. Without the consistency of meeting with the
Lord each day, your spiritual walk will also be chaotic. If you fail to plan, you are planning to
fail. The time I spend reading, praying,
memorizing, meditating is not wasted time.
I’m not sure where you might be in your journey today but I
want you to know that you are not alone.
Many of us struggle with the same situations. We have walked in your
shoes, or are going to walk a path similar to your own. I think this is why it is so important that
we work in community with each other and encourage and build each other up. There’s something about hearing another
person say – "Oh yes, I’ve been there. I know what you are going through." It doesn’t solve anything in that moment, but it is such a comfort to know
you are not alone.
But even beyond and greater than this is the knowledge
that with Christ as your Savior you can know that He walks with you. He has
experienced life with all it’s difficulties and trials as a man himself and He
understands our deep set need and cares for us.
I pray you’ll be encouraged with that knowledge today – how rich that
comfort is for me!
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