When The Detour Is Really The Road

I read a bio the other day about Laura Story. You know, she's the one who wrote the song, "Blessings" after her husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor and then contracted meningitis in the hospital after surgery to remove the tumor.

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace. Comfort for family, protection while we sleep.

How was she able to write about "blessings" after being in such uncertain and difficult times?

We pray for healing, for prosperity. We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.

I've been there...have you? I've prayed for all of those things...AND MORE. When our oldest son was born with Down Syndrome and we didn't know what to do...and things were scary and uncertain and we thought we were going to lose our way, I prayed, "help me."

And all the while, You hear each spoken need...yet love us way too much to give us lesser things.

When my youngest son was diagnosed with cancer...and was facing surgery and chemo and an uncertain future, I prayed, "take ME instead."

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear. We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.

And when my mother passed away suddenly from a heart attack, I prayed, "please bring her back."

We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love...as if every promise from Your word is not enough.

Doesn't work like that, does it?

And all the while, You hear each desperate plea and long that we'd have faith to believe.

I've read about Laura Story before. The very first time I heard her song, it made me do the ugly cry...and then I looked her up on The Google and learned the circumstances surrounding this song.

Powerful, right?

What really got me, though, besides what all she and her husband had been through was a quote from her sister that was included in the article. She said, "you know, I think the detour is actually the road."

Whew.

Don't know how old the sister is...or was when she said this, but talk about profound. Right?

We...I...spend a lot of time trying to find the right road...the smooth life. The life where I make the right choices and so things turn out well for me.

Yeah, about that.

We have some dear friends...a young husband and wife. A couple of years ago, they were pregnant with a baby they were told would not survive after birth. And we all prayed for a miracle...for healing...for God to give them this baby to love. The parents hoped, and they stayed as strong as they could...and they trusted God with their future. I remember the Dad telling me, "some people have trials that last a life-time...ours is just going to last 9 months."

Cause what if Your blessings come through rain-drops?

Spoken like a man who hadn't yet seen his son take one breath on earth...and the next breath in Heaven.

What if Your healing comes through tears?

Who hasn't yet held his son's body until it grew cold.

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near?

Because now that husband is different. He thinks deeper and loves deeper. He is wise beyond his years. He acknowledges that that trial...changed his life FOREVER. That trial...that baby...has defined his life and his ministry. That trial...that baby...has provided opportunities for attesting to the faithfulness of God more than any good and effective witnessing tool or program ever, EVER could.

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?

What they thought was a detour was actually the road.

What is it for you? God doesn't waste an experience. If it comes to us, you can be sure that He will use it for His glory and His purpose...if we let Him. He can turn the hardest, saddest, most difficult experiences of our lives..into our ministry.

What if trials of this life...the rain, the storms, the hardest nights...are Your mercies in disguise?

Ashes into beauty.

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6