The Roundabout Road

    I just got back from an event in Nashville, where I spent a couple of days in the presence of some truly great people, many of them musicians, songwriters, and artists. These folks have built careers on their ability to dig deep and measure life honestly, and as I heard them tell their stories, some themes emerged.

Hard journeys. Grief. Poor choices. Wounding and being wounded. But, most of all, grace.

The roads they have traveled have been anything but straight, with sudden turns twisting like knotted thread. But never once were they lost. It may have felt like it in certain seasons, when nothing about their lives looked the way they expected. But when something is lost, the one who is searching does not know where it is. And the Searcher knew all along.

This got me thinking about parts of my own story which are dark and twisted, too. There have been times the path I’m on has taken wide swings, even doubling back on itself as I’ve learned hard lessons over again.  And I’ve dug myself into some deep holes along the way.

But here’s something I’ve learned about grace…

The roundabout road I’ve followed has never led me outside of God’s reach.

Somehow, in a way only he can, he is redeeming even the ugliest parts of my journey, showing up in the most unlikely places and making them beautiful. The holes I’ve dug are being transformed into reservoirs of wisdom and truth.

And the sweetest truth is this:

    I am his, and he is mine.

Sometimes the road that leads us home is long and frightening and not at all what we expected. But we are never hidden from the Seeker, never more than an honest prayer away from being exactly where we need to be.

“I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.”
Psalm 139:7-12