U-Turns
Here’s something I have never understood about drivers: we forget we can make a U-turn.
If we miss a turn, we don’t have to slow down to ten miles an hour trying to force our way over. We don’t have to cut across five lanes of traffic at the last second. We don’t need to slam on our brakes because we just realized we were supposed to turn right now.
Not only is that dangerous — it’s unnecessary.
If we could remember that the turn isn’t going to disappear, that the exit isn’t our last chance, we might stop stressing ourselves out — and stop endangering others. Sometimes missing a turn even saves time. Have you ever had that happen? You miss the exit, your GPS reroutes you, and suddenly your estimated arrival time goes down. I always love when that happens.
We want to get it right the first time. We want to follow the directions, make the correct turns, take the exit that makes the most sense. But sometimes we miss it. Sometimes we take the wrong exit. Sometimes the roads are confusing, the signs aren’t clear, there’s construction, or we’re distracted — and we just miss it.
Before GPS, we used MapQuest. We printed directions and balanced pages of paper on our laps while trying to read mile markers and watch the road at the same time. It was more confusing and arguably more dangerous. And we missed turns all the time.
Thank God for U-turns.
Thank God for the next exit.
Thank God for GPS that reroutes us without scolding.
Most of the time it doesn’t even ask us to turn around — it simply finds another way to the same destination. And sometimes that “wrong” path leads you to a new restaurant, a new neighborhood, or a better route altogether. You never know what the wrong road might give you.
But you can always be redirected.
We are so worried that every decision might be a mistake — take the job or not, date the person or not, move or stay, choose this school or that, this car or that, end the relationship or keep trying, say yes or no, try the diet or don’t, go back to school or don’t, take this trip or that one, even this nail color or that.
Small decisions. Big decisions.
We want to get it right, and that intention is good. That effort matters. We don’t want to harm ourselves or others, and God honors that. He is not waiting to berate us for missing a turn when we have sought Him and tried to do the right thing.
He works all things together for good — for those who love Him.
Maybe you took the wrong exit because the “right” one wasn’t right yet. Maybe there was something ahead you couldn’t see. Maybe missing the turn protected you. Maybe it slowed you down when you needed slowing. He is for you. He takes what we call mistakes and uses them anyway.
We get so focused on doing the right thing that we forget God has us either way. That our effort to choose well is not wasted. That there are often many roads to the same destination — and that life doesn’t have to be rushed or rigid to be faithful.
Sometimes the scenic route really is the better one.
Anxiety about getting it right has plagued me for much of my life. It has stopped me from making decisions and kept me frozen at intersections, afraid to choose at all. And even that — even the delays, the hesitation, the wrong turns — has been worked out for good.
I would do some things differently now. That doesn’t mean I did everything wrong then.
And yes, there are times I have made sinful choices and needed to confess, to turn around, to do better. But even those roads — sometimes especially those roads — led me somewhere better. Not because of my wisdom, but because of His faithfulness.
Besides, every good story has a few wrong turns.
