When I’m driving I’ll sometimes do something which drives my wife crazy. I’ll notice Ba road off to the side and suddenly decide to see where it goes. Sometimes these little detours lead to a beautiful view or a picturesque town, but often it just meanders off into the wilderness until we’re totally lost.
Last year I decided to try a different road. After 13 years in the walk-in clinic I joined a new practice in Cashmere, WA. Things went well for about a month and a half, but then COVID hit! Business plummeted suddenly and we had to temporarily close.
Looking for more stability, I took a job with Occupational Medicine. The staff was amazing and, at first, I thought I’d found a new home. After a few months, though, I realized I’d made a wrong turn. I’m an acute care PA and managing patients long term just isn’t for me. I started looking for a way back to what I do best.
The search was frustrating. I received several offers, but none was right for me. I spent a lot of time struggling with God, but only found peace when I accepted God might want me to stay right where I was. Like Paul, I had to learn “to be content whatever the circumstances.” (Philippians 4:11).
With this new attitude came also a wonderful peace. I was learning to “wait on the Lord” and the wait was worth it. A new position was opened back at the Walk-in Clinic and I was offered the job. I start July 1 and I’m so excited to get back to work with my Walk-in “family.”
My little detour cost me a lot of sleepless nights and anguish, but I learned some valuable lessons. I learned what it really means to trust in God, to surrender, and I gained perspective on what is the right path for me. I loved working with the wonderful people at OccMed and I’ll miss them, but it’s good to be back on the path where I belong.
If you’ve taken a little detour too and find yourself in a place you don’t belong, on a path that’s headed in the wrong direction, don’t despair. No matter what mistakes you’ve made, what wrong turns you’ve taken in your life, remember “your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.” (Proverbs 5:21).
God knows just where you went wrong and He can show you the way back to the right path for you. Just “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
We all make wrong turns sometimes, detours we should have avoided. Thankfully we have a Heavenly Father who cares. If you let Him He will “instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.” (Psalm 32:8). Why wander any longer, making one wrong turn after another? Put your hand in His today and let Him lead you back to the path where you belong, the path which will lead you Home.