Life is full of crossroads, and taking wrong turns is part of the journey. But what do we do when we take a wrong turn? It's not easy to get back on track when we lose our way, but it's not impossible either.
One character we see in the Bible who took a lot of wrong turns early on was Saul the Pharisee. He thought he was on the right track when he started persecuting Christians. He was under the assumption that he was pleasing God, but nothing could have been farther from the truth.
It took no less than the intervention of Jesus to bring Him back on track. That's what some of us who are on the wrong road need: a powerful and sometimes even painful intervention from God. God is waiting to meet you on the road of your life just as He met Saul on the road to Damascus.
What do we do when we've realised that we've taken a wrong turn in life? We all know that we need to get things right, but most of the time, it's easier said than done and that we hardly know where to begin. Here are three steps to take when you realise you've taken a wrong turn.
1. Take Responsibility for Your Mistakes
You might realise you're on the wrong track, but you just won't admit it's your fault. You try to blame others, circumstances or even sometimes even God for losing your way. After running away from God and being confronted by a storm, Jonah took responsibility for his mistakes. He knew that the storm was his doing.
He said in Jonah 1:12, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you."
Until we take responsibility for our mistakes, we will not start making amends for our failures.
2. Reroute
Jane Fulton once said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results."
You can't expect to make things right if you keep going the wrong direction no matter how sincere you may be. When on the wrong track, we need to double back and make the adjustment.
If you're in the wrong career, you can always change it. If you made a bad decision that cost a relationship, pursue forgiveness and peace. If you lost your way chasing after God, go back to seeking Him first.
3. Pay the Price
Wrong turns will cost us. Mistakes will often have a price tag on them, and some people aren't willing to pay the price. But if we don't correct wrong turns, it will only end up costing us so much more than it would correcting our course early on.
Everything has a price, but making amends will always be worth it. Because God has a good, pleasing and perfect will for us, we must resolve to chase after that and nothing else. We will never regret paying the price to pursue God and His plans for us.
