Embrace The Detours

Yesterday was the most bizarre day. I had quite a full day planned. Go to the station to voice track; then head to Montgomery's riverfront to watch the Dragon Boat races; then watch about four hours of the LPGA golf tournament at the RTJ course and lastly to attend the last couple hours of En Fuego, the one-day Christian music festival in Verbena. But it got shredded. First, I had to add four songs to The River playlist, which drained 20 minutes of time away from the time I planned for the Dragon Boat races, so had to skip them. Then we get to the golf course and 30 minutes later a thunderstorm rolls in, calling all the golfers off the course. Play was suspended for five hours. That same storm headed to En Fuego. So nothing happened as I expected. They were all minor inconveniences but I was pretty discombobulated trying to salvage the day to figure out what to do. As Daddy says all the time, "You never know what a day may bring."

You will have days like that. Days you've planned and prepared for that life comes in and rearranges for you in a manner you did not anticipate or appreciate. Sometimes it will just be inconveniences. Sometime it may be far worse ... even tragic. The Father tells us we're supposed to concentrate on just the one day at a time because we just don't know what tomorrow may bring and "each day has enough trouble of it's own." (Matthew 6:34) And that quote of Daddy's above ... it comes straight from Scripture. Proverbs 27:1 says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring."

The key to this is focusing on what the day has given you. You don't know what the Father has prepared for you. There may be gems in the day. Certain people the Father wants you to meet, souls to help, words to share, services to provide. When a curve ball is thrown at your day, you need to look for the detours and see what it is God wants you to focus on. It takes a little practice to get into the habit of doing so, but it certainly helps give those moments a positive spin. Plus you never know what miracles you may get to witness during these moments, so keep an eye out. Because of the incoming storm yesterday, we headed back to the Club House to get an umbrella. That's where I got to meet Lexi Thompson, one of the lead golfers in this LPGA tournament. It was 45 minutes prior to her tee off time, and she graciously stood with me for a picture. Having watched this young lady play at this tournament for the last five years, winning it in 2011 as the youngest woman to ever win an LPGA tournament at the age of 16, it was a sweet moment for me. All thanks to icky weather.

So embrace the detours. God may just have something special planned for you.

Discussion: Tell about something unexpected that happened to you to throw off a day. What struggles or blessings came of it?

Prayer: Lord when we have things through a kink in our day, helps us to get into the habit of searching for You in it, to see what you may need us to learn or do. May you be glorified in all those detours in our life. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.