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Detours

Recently I found myself taking routes home that were "off the beaten path" - err...at least off my beaten path.  You know - the one you can almost drive it in your sleep because you drive it all. the. time.

I found myself  driving home from some leisurely Saturday morning errands with the girls so my husband could attend a work webinar at home in peace.  Without warning I came across an intersection that was blocked off by police cars.  I could see what I thought what looked like a utility truck but nothing else.  (I'm that person who tries to see around all the cars but who really can't see anything in my 4-door sedan surrounded by pickup trucks and SUVs.)

I was hungry. I was ready to get home.  And if I'm being completely honest I was a little miffed that my Saturday morning task was to occupy the kids so my husband could work - after all he had been at work all week.  Wasn't Saturday my time?

But there was no going through this area - emergency personnel had it completely shut off.  And so I was forced to turn onto a street I was totally unfamiliar with in an area of town I am not particularly familiar with. I did say a quick prayer to myself that I wouldn't get lost - with my eyes open of course. (At this particular moment I was very glad I inherited my dad's sense of direction and not my mom's.) The girls looked up.  "Where are we mom? This doesn't look familiar."  I told them we had to take a quick detour because the road was closed, and no, I wasn't sure why.  The detour took less than 2 minutes time.  As I came out on the other side, I saw why the road was closed.  A live power line was on the ground.  What looked like inconvenience minutes ago was actually there to keep us safe.  Even alive.

Isn't that how God seems to work sometimes?  Things seem to be going smoothly - finally "calming down", in a rhythm and then you're suddenly detoured.  Sometimes the detour is short and your back on your way.  Other times it seems as if the whole path was re-routed.  Isn't it comforting to know that  "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer...(Psalm 18:2)"?  God always knows where the "live wires" that can cause us great harm are.  What may look like an inconvenience may really be Him saving us from danger lying up ahead.  Danger we're oblivious to until the danger has passed.

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