Trust the Turn

Have you ever experienced an unexpected turn in your life? Life is a journey that doesn’t always lead down a straight path. In a perfect world, everything we would face or encounter would be straight ahead and we would be able to see and prepare accordingly. However, we do not live in a perfect world, at least not yet, and so unfortunately the unexpected turn can be a norm on the path of life’s journey and it can leave us suddenly lost in a place of confusion and indecisiveness. We often hear the saying, “things took a turn for the worse.” Well, is it just me or do we never hear that things took a turn for the best? Could it be that what may seem like a turn for the worst could end up being a turn for the best if we are able to trust the turn and continue on the journey? I knew once of a man who was working at a company. This man had moved away from home to an unknown city to make a new life for himself and he had found his place at this certain company. He excelled in what he was doing  and all signs pointed to him pursuing a career with a promotion at the company until he was unexpectedly fired for violating company policy. Now while the violation was legitimate, the way it occurred was innocent. Nevertheless, he was terminated and all hopes of his new life and career in this new city seemed to diminish. Left confused and defeated, the man thought it would be best to return home and turn back from this new journey that he had been on until he heard from the voice of the Lord with a simple, yet clear command to “stay”. To stay on the journey and trust the turn. To trust in the One who holds each life in the palm of His hands. The One whose plans for us are to give us a future and hope. The One who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we can think or imagine. The Lord says that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are much higher, and that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. The man took heed to the voice of the Lord and stayed on the journey which led him to a new company with a better promotion and a career where he could continue to become the person God created Him to be and live out his God given purpose. In fact, the company he was once was with is now permanently closed. It’s not always for us to know the outcome of our lives, but to know the One who holds the outcome. In the midst of the unexpected turn whether it be loss, seeing our loved ones suffer, heartache with being letdown or hurt, or letting go of something or someone that can’t make the turn with you, the God who is over all of the universe, who came down to us here on earth as a man, just like us, and experienced what we would experience, so that we would not be alone in our unexpected turns. But not only that, He conquered it all, including sin and death, so that when the unexpected turn for the worse would occur, He would already have it turned for our best. His name is Jesus.