Whenever there’s a scheduled maintenance or renovation at the hospital, an email is sent out; sometimes a few weeks ahead, and then a day or two before the scheduled event. But guess what? Any time I see those emails I pay no attention to them. I completely ignore the map and detour instructions provided, and get on with my next task.

I don’t think about these emails until it’s Monday morning and I’m running late to an appointment or meeting and encounter a detour. Then, it dawns on me that I should have read that email. At this point, it’s a little too late. If you know me, you know I’m terrible with directions, so finding my way through the new route ends up taking me more time than it would have if I had just read that one email.

The interesting thing is that, you’d think I’ll learn from my mistake and open any email that comes from the command office about the next renovation. But you guessed right! I don’t learn my lesson and two months down the line I’m back in the same boat, struggling to find my way through the hospital.

A few days ago, I run into this situation again, and the Holy Spirit whispered to me. He said, this isn’t the only time that you have refused to prepare for what is coming, when you have been given clear instructions ahead of time. I wanted to give all the excuses that I could come up with - 'the maps are hard to read' or 'the emails come when I'm extremely busy' or 'but I eventually figure it out?', but i knew that this wasn't an argument that I was going to win.

I know many of us are like me, and instead of taking the time to read and prepare for what life holds, we would rather wait, waste time and then blame everyone else for our problems. God has given us the guide to everything that we will ever face in life, and yet we fail to use this 'manual' to guide us. 

In Pslams 119:105, He tells us that, His Word is a lamp to guide our feet and a light for our path. The Bible is meant to be the go to resource for our daily living. We are to read and apply this Word to our lives, and if we will open God's Word every day, we will learn how to navigate the detours that life brings our way, ahead of time. We will be prepared when we face situations that change our direction and we will be able to tackle them using the Word of God!

The Bible is not only for when we get into trouble, it is to help us know what to do even before the trouble comes. I like how the Amplified version puts Joshua 1:8 - "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful."

The Word of God speaks for itself. Have you meditated on it enough to be ready for life's detour? You know what to do if your answer is 'No'.

Love,

Alice