Detours, Roundabouts, and Imperfections
To be sure there is no path through life without detours. But detours, roundabouts, and imperfections, as the incarnation’s setting straight of our sidetracked humanity makes clear, are the paths used by the Spirit to take us home.
- Leonard Sweet, Nudge
“You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors. Galatians 1:13-14
All of us encounter detours. It is part of living life and seeing our story unfold. As the quote above states, it is also the path used by the Spirit to take us home. Paul, in telling his story shares his zeal for persecuting God’s early church.
“But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.” Galatians 1:15-16
A moment came when he realized he had really been caught in a roundabout. Even though we get sidetracked, God uses it in our story. It might not have been his original intent but God redeems all.
