setback or redirected

Sometimes we have setbacks when we are working toward a goal. You know, you set a goal, make a plan, and get busy working toward that goal, when all of a sudden, something happens to mess up the plan. Oh so frustrating!  I have had setbacks happen many times and I feel like I have one now. But, as I began to pray about it, I felt like God was asking me, is it really a setback or is it a redirection?

God may be redirecting us, because He knows something we may not know.
We all have heard and read Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I think we get off track sometimes and He redirects us to get us back on the path.  Sometimes, the "setback" or redirection is part of His plan.  Our perspective is that it is a negative event meant to derail us and throw us off, when in God's plan, it is meant to protect us, guard us, and keep us in His plan.

I heard a dear missionary, Sis. Elizabeth Tolman, testify many years ago about a time that her son was driving down a road in Mexico, when she felt God tell her they needed to stop and get off the road. She told her son to stop and get off the road.  When they got back on the road, up ahead they came across a serious accident where a truck had veered into their lane and would have hit them.  What may have seemed like a delay, or setback, protected them.

I think back to 2008 when I had a car accident that put me out of work for 3 months, in a wheelchair.  I saw it as a setback.  I was frustrated. My husband would take me over to my parents house every day after I was out of the hospital since I could not care for our small children alone and he had to go to work.  I was frustrated. But I got to spent every day with my mother for the last two and a half months she was here on this earth.  I look back now and realize, that was a true blessing in disguise.  I got to be with mom everyday, talk with her and have some great times that I would not have had had I been working and busy.  It was really God giving me a blessing.

About a month ago, my husband and I had attempted to hire someone to make some repairs on our gutters. It was quite a bit of money. When the time came for the work to be done, the person called and tried to reschedule, then said they would call later that day.  They did not call back for two weeks.  We were a bit frustrated with this development. In the meantime, my husband was told that  the company he works for may be laying off 200 plus workers, including him over the next few months meaning his income will be changing. We realized that maybe God kept us from spending some money that we may need later. When the repair person finally did call, we told we would not be requiring his services. We trust that God is protecting us and our financial situation and the work will be completed in a different way.

So, now that I am facing what feels like a little setback, may be God redirecting me for His purposes. He knows and sees a whole lot more than I do.  I may make plans and may think I know what will be done or what I need to do, but He knows better. I just need to choose to trust Him, even when life appears to throw a setback at me.  Proverbs 27:1 says Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.  We can't really now the future anyhow, so trusting God with it makes a lot more sense than trusting my plans. He can keep us on the right path and going the right direction.  We just need to know that what might appear to be a setback, may actually be a blessing for us. God has it all prepared and He will guide us, when we listen and trust He is truly looking out for us.

Proverbs 3:5-6 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.