“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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:11-13
 
 
Driving through the French countryside near Blois one day recently, I was admiring the surrounding beauty as I followed the GPS to my destination. The sky was itself an azure landscape dotted by giant puffs of cotton. The land, verdant farmland spreading out to my right, was replete with fields of various crops in hues of green and beige. It was indeed idyllic.
 
As I continued my drive, I spied a curious sight ahead. Drawing closer, I realized an ancient bridge spanned across a patch of land and then stopped abruptly. It looked as if the left side of the bridge had been shaved off. Perhaps the ground beneath it where grass was now growing had at one time been a flowing stream or river. I passed it all too fast as I pondered where this “bridge to nowhere” had gone.
 
Reflecting on my own life, I could see similarities to that abruptly-ending bridge. Thinking I was heading in one direction, my life came to a grinding halt. My journey took an unexpected detour when my brother died suddenly of a massive heart attack in 2009. There were no orange cones or construction signs pointing in the direction I should go. The lane ahead of me dimmed as the road appeared to dead-end.
 
In Jeremiah 29:11, God is talking to the Israelites who were prisoners of the Babylonians. Their lives had taken a sudden detour as Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, took them captive. Perhaps they felt life had suddenly lost control and veered sharply off to one side. Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord reminded them that He was still in control and that He loved them and had a plan for their lives, a plan not to harm them, but to help them. He desired to give them hope and a future. But in the meantime, they were to settle into this new land and make the most of it, building homes, planting gardens, and carrying on with their lives. This detour, for now, had become their new way of life.
 
I wonder how that message from God was received by the Israelites. Did they trust God had their best in mind? Did they have hope for their future? Could they see that life’s detour had purpose and meaning? Could they see that their detour had actually become their new path? It is in the difficult times that we grow the most and become who we were meant to be all along.
 
While the detours of my life since 2009 have been unforeseen, filled with potholes and unexpected twists and turns, unlike that “bridge to nowhere”, God’s detour for me has become my new journey. Although it’s been difficult at times, I am thankful that no matter where the road takes me, Jesus walks with me. When I seek Him with all my heart, I will find Him.
 
Even when the detour signs go missing and the way up ahead abruptly changes, I trust that God has a plan to give me hope and a future, one that is even better than I could ever dream or imagine. He can take your detours and dead-ends, too, and turn them into new paths of hope. He never wastes any potholes, ditches, or worn out pavement. God is the master engineer of every road and bridge as they all lead directly to Him.
 
 
Heavenly Father, You are sovereign over all, including my journey through life. Open my eyes to see you at work in the detours and ditches of life as You prepare the way for me to go. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
 
 
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Text and photograph copyright © 2017 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of the Pont Saint-Bénézet in Avignon, France, built in the 12th century over the Rhône river, rebuilt in the 13th century after a war, and then left damaged by floods over the centuries.
 
 
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5
 
 
How do I turn on the water at the sink? How can it be this difficult? At a public washroom in France, I suddenly felt very inept. There were no hot or cold knobs to turn on, so I gave up and decided to use hand sanitizer instead. It wasn’t until later, at another bathroom, that I realized there are foot pedals, a blue one for cold and a red one for hot, that turn the water on at the sink. Voilà! Mystery solved!
 
Traveling internationally can be a humbling experience. The little things in life that we totally take for granted at home can be problematic abroad. I think there must be at least a dozen ways to flush a toilet in Europe, some of which are obvious and others are not. Likewise, pumping gas when the directions are in a foreign language can be challenging. Driving a rental car where the road signs are in a different language and the rules of the road are not intuitive can be a bit nerve-racking. Even though I’ve had my driver’s license since I was sixteen, I still felt like a novice driving a car in France.
 
Travel has a way of humbling you. You think you know how things work, but there are constant surprises that make you feel less than intelligent and far from competent. There are language and cultural barriers that can become insurmountable walls where you might as well just wear a sign around your neck saying, “I’m sorry. I’m just a foreigner. Please forgive me!” The locals are more likely to be helpful and friendly if you attempt to speak their language. Trying to adapt to foreign customs, no matter how clumsy our efforts, will open doors. Having a humble and teachable attitude goes a long way, too.
 
Our key verse today highlights how behaving toward each other with humility builds relationship and models Jesus’ own behavior. God will shine His favor on you when you act in humility toward others. He actually opposes the proud. Pride has a way of getting between people and destroying relationships. Humility builds relationships. Philippians 2:3-5 puts it this way, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” Humility is essentially having a right perspective of yourself in relation to others, not thinking of yourself as better or superior, nor allowing yourself to be a "doormat", but being willing to put others’ needs above your own. The opposite of humility is pride.
 
Pride not only creates barriers to relationship with others, it can also come between us and our relationship with God. The text in the second chapter of Philippians goes on to say that Jesus humbled himself in obedience to God, even to death on a cross (verse 8). In doing so, Jesus’ act of ultimate humility created a relationship between God and us.
 
James 4:8 says to “come near to God and He will come near to you”. Seeking God requires humility on our part as we acknowledge God is the great “I Am”, the Lord of the universe, the Creator of all, and the Savior to those who believe.
 
I am thankful that Jesus’ humility on the cross paved the way for restoring our relationship with God. Walking in humility, whether in our own neighborhood or on the other side of the pond, is what we are called to do. Humility opens the doors of relationship, both with those we meet and with God Himself.
 
 
Lord Jesus, thank You for humbling Yourself on the cross in obedience to God the Father. May I seek humility in my relationship with You and with those I meet as I travel along this road of life. Amen.
 
 
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Text and photograph copyright © 2017 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of sunflower field near Avignon, France.
 
 
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™