Detours

August 8, 2021 by  
Filed under Daily Devotions, Personal Growth

By Janet Morris Grimes –

The sun peeked over the trees in an early morning yawn. It’s rays reflected off the lake, blinding me with a gush of wonder. With a gentle breeze, the 75 degrees of September was worth the wait after a long, hot and dry summer with humidity that seemed to weigh me down. I trekked along the paved path that bordered the lake, lost in my own world, singing to music in my ears that no one else could hear.

This was my day to be alone. Well, to be alone with God. With a new job and a recent move, I was overstimulated with too much busyness and needed time to take a breath, which led me to the lake on one of the most perfect days ever created.

I came across a fork in the path. Something I normally would have passed right by, sticking, instead with what I knew and was familiar. But I had just been praying, between the first and second stanza of a NeedtoBreathe song, (my theme for the day) for God to direct my steps. My specific prayer was to make His voice clear above the added noise in my life. I wanted Him to know I was still listening, probably now more than ever.

“Take this path.”

It wasn’t a voice, but rather a command, like an awareness of something I knew beforehand.

I didn’t question it. My reason for coming, after all, was to seek God, and He appeared to be everywhere, so wherever that unknown path led was fine with me.

Soon I was perched on a large, flat rock by the water’s edge, away from the few hikers and bikers that wandered through, at a place I had never noticed before. After writing all my questions for the day, I opened my Bible to the book of Mark, and this is what I found:

“At that time, Jesus came from Nazereth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven beign torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness…. (Mark 1:9 – 12 NIV).

”Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35 NIV).

I laid back against my newly discovered rock and contemplated how Jesus dealt with all that He was called to do. He took time away from others to refocus, to make sure He understood where God was leading, and to ask questions. My guess is He took many detours throughout His life, as He went where the Spirit led.

And on this perfect day, I was thankful that He had done the same for me.

About Janet Morris Grimes

Janet is the author of The Parent's Guide to Uncluttering Your Home, released in April of 2011 through Atlantic Publishing. She launched Abbandoned Ministries in 2010, which leads others through her writing and speaking to seek God, as Abba, during times of abandonment. She currently writes monthly for Christian Woman Today, the grief website Open to Hope, and Mamapedia. For additional information on Janet, visit her website at http://janetmorrisgrimes.com or http://abbandoned.com.
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Comments

One Response to “Detours”
  1. Hally Franz says:

    Mornings as perfect as the one you describe don’t seem to come often enough, probably largely due to the fact that we don’t set the time aside for God to provide experiences such as those. Sounds like a wonderful blessing of a day. Thanks for sharing!

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