Through

You missed it. The signs and arrows warned you but you were engrossed in your podcast or rocking out to Van Halen while playing air drums. Either way, you missed the signs and are traveling in a different direction than you wanted.

Your head is swaying as you frantically look for some way to change lanes. You use the turn signal (probably for the first time in a while) and honk your horn (probably not the first time in a while) and slam your hand on the steering wheel but it changes nothing. Your GPS announces it’s recalculating your route. The feminine British accent holds an inflection of condemnation you swear you’ve never noticed before. There is no way out, no shortcut to getting back to where you need to be. No, the only way, for now, is straight ahead, and whether it will be a ripple or a tsunami on your day is yet to be seen.

When our circumstances change unexpectedly our first response is to find an escape. A concoction of anger, panic, and fear stirs until like a trapped animal we claw and seethe for our freedom from the unknown. Even Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane prayed to not have to go to the cross and though not unknown to Him, his human desire was for his circumstance to change.

And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done – Luke 22:42

The unknowns are scary. Losing a job, a loved one, or a marriage can seem like your world is crashing down around you. Family and friends may stand with you but ultimately it is you who has to stumble blindly through the unknown and though it feels like a nightmare, it’s not always bad.

Take one step back and breathe. If you can do that you are still alive and if you are still alive you have a purpose. Stop looking for a quick way out. Sometimes the quick way out means we miss out.

It’s uncomfortable for me to allow people to critique my writings. Thinking of you critiquing this post right now makes me cringe. A lot of authors claim to be thick-skinned, and whether true or not, I know I am not among them. If I take a shortcut around having my work critiqued, I could miss out on some excellent advice. Without criticism, I will not grow as a writer, a supervisor, or a dad for that matter.

The term shortcuts could be interchanged with the word avoidance. Avoiding hard conversations in the present could make a situation worse later on, and if you know me well enough you know that I’m incriminating myself in this statement. Avoidance is fine when it comes to poison ivy, poisonous snakes, and poisonous relationships but when it comes to people you care about, including yourself, hard conversations have to be had and tough calls have to be made. It may not always go well. It may even get downright ugly but by going through it you will learn something about yourself and those around you. God refines us through tough times. Psalms 23:4 says Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... It doesn’t say, though I walk around, over, or next to the valley but through the valley.

Fill in the blank: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of_________ I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. What is the name of your valley? bankruptcy, addiction, divorce, or maybe it is death. Sometimes, the best way and the only way is through. How much more deep would our conversations be if instead of asking what are you going through, we asked, what are you avoiding today? Life is beautiful and life is ugly. We all have to go through it. For to side step life is the cruelest thing you could do to yourself, for the reward on the other side could be the best thing you’ve ever experienced. John 14:6 no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Take it from Rocky.