Mar
27
Detoured
There is an assumption that if you are a pastor you must love the Bible. I do love the Bible but it is not because I am a Pastor. I love the Bible because of the way its words and teachings detour me from the ways I would naturally respond in many situations.
I am not particularly fond of detours because they typically take longer. But a detour is better than trying to drive over a washed out road or bridge! I guess when you consider the alternative, I am thankful that there is another safer route I can take.
I find that when I read the Bible, I inevitably read something that speaks to the things I am concerned about or dealing with that day. The advice often redirects me from how I would naturally respond. This past week I was dealing with a state bureaucracy that was telling us one thing and then doing another and I was also dealing with some personal attacks on my family’s character. My natural reaction was to be angry and to fight back. But as I read in my Bible the next morning, I found verses that encouraged me to trust God and to pray for those who were frustrating me. That detour in my reaction brought a peace and a confidence that God had everything in control. It also kept me from making matters worse.
In recent weeks, my spending plans for my tax return, my priorities for the day, and my dealings with certain people and situations were all redirected on a biblical detour that was longer, a bit harder, but ultimately better than what I would have done.
I have come to the conclusion that my life is much better because of biblical detours.