When Your Journey Takes a Detour
Today's Scripture: Joshua 4:1-7
I am the parent of a teenage boy who knows everything there is to know and is eager to argue to prove his points on everything. Like many of us may secretly admit to ourselves, I, too, was once at such a place in my life journey. My journey through life was changed by an event that moved me from that point to the realization that only our Father knows all and only through his grace do I live to enjoy life and serve Him.
John M. Hardin is the Missouri Baptist Foundation’s general counsel and corporate secretary.
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Early in school at Southwest Baptist College (now University), I also knew it all and was preparing to leave college on a journey to places and experiences unknown. The adventure would certainly be better than sitting in lectures, often interrupted by a tap on the wall behind me by a classmate who enjoyed seeing me startled awake.
My physical journey came to an abrupt detour as an auto crashed off the side of a road and an ambulance hauled me unconscious to a hospital. Weeks later, I awoke from a semi-coma and began rehabbing a paralyzed right leg, learning to walk again, but now with a permanent limp. These events gave my life journey a new perspective and reverence for God, life and the value of each of His children.
Joseph and Mary could never have predicted the life journey their son, Jesus, would take. On the life journeys my sons may take, I recommend two Scriptures: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves” (Philippians 2:3, NIV), and “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6, NIV).
