I finished my sales early this week and since my Mom’s home was only a couple hours away I decided to drive over to see her.

I’m cruising along the back roads from Long Beach to Olympia. The sun is out and I’m enjoying my new car (not brand new, just new to me). I’ve been down this way before so I’m somewhat familiar with the road or so I thought.

Just before you reach Aberdeen there is a bypass that saves you several miles and about 30 minutes. As I approached the bypass my phone rings. Being in the hill country and not close to a major city, the call drops. While trying to return the call I come upon the bypass.

As I turn it seems strange to me there weren’t more signs since this is a major route for vehicles to go around the city. I assumed I was distracted by the phone and just missed them.

The road I turned on was a nice, wide two lane road. The sign said the Highway 12 junction was 33 miles. I was going to Highway 12 but 33 miles seemed farther than I remembered. I thought, “Oh, well, I’ll eventually get where I want to go.”

The nice, wide two lane road turned into a rough narrow two lane road. I’m thinking, “That’s okay, I may be on the wrong road but it will work out.”

Sixteen miles later the narrow two lane road turned into a gravel road and 2 miles after that it became a one lane logging road. I may be a little slow sometimes but I eventually figured it out – logging road, pot holes, gravel, dust, new car, nothing but trees all around and no Highway 12 to be seen.

I knew I had to go back to the highway I turned off from and get to the bypass I was originally looking for. I turned the car around and eventually made it back to the Highway, found the bypass, and made it to my Mom’s place over an hour later than expected.

As I was driving back the 18 miles to the Highway, I thought that instead of getting upset I should think about what spiritual lesson I can learn from all this. I’m sure there are many but what stood out to me is this: It doesn’t matter how long you’re going the wrong way (away from God, not in the direction He desires), you will never make it to the right destination. The only thing you can do is go back to where you took the wrong turn.

When I was on the logging road I didn’t want to drive those 18 winding miles back to the Highway. I thought what I should have done is stopped the car, got on my knees out on the gravel and prayed. If I would have confessed I was on the wrong road, I was sorry and I wanted to get back to where I had made the wrong turn, I would have suddenly been transported back to the Highway. Right?

Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But too often that’s what we think should happen in our spiritual lives. We find ourselves on the wrong road. Whether by conscious choices we’ve made or not fully paying attention, we see we aren’t where we should be or want to be.

At that point we do need to pray, confessing our sin, our wrong choices, our not paying attention, and tell God we want to get back on the right path, to be fully in His will.

Two things will happen when we do this. First, our sins will be forgiven. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We can count on that.

The sin is removed, our relationship with the Lord restored, and we can have His clarity and understanding in our lives once again.

The second thing that happens is we have to work through the ramifications and repercussions of taking the wrong path. One old time preacher used to say, “People want to sow their wild oats and then pray for crop failure.” It doesn’t work that way.

Galatians 6:7 & 8 states, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

We don’t just pray, confess, want to do right and everything is magically transformed back to the way it was before we chose to go the wrong way. We have to deal with the consequences of our choices. I still had to drive the 18 miles back to the Highway. (Now, just to be clear, it wasn’t a sin that I turned on the wrong road, just a bad choice.)

But rather than be disheartened by this reality, the next verse gives us great encouragement. Verse 9 tells us, “And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.” As we keep moving to where we are to be in the Lord, it will pay off. It may take time, but it will pay off.

Another encouraging verse is Hebrews 9:14 which states. “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

In time we will make it back. In time we will be on track and going the way God desires. In time the wrong road and those long, 18 winding miles it took to get back on the right road will not even be a speck in our rearview mirror. God will cleanse from our conscience the wrong choices we have made.

We all find areas of our lives we have taken the “wrong road” on. Often at first we think it’s not so bad or will be okay. The Bible says sin is pleasurable for a while. But soon we realize how far off the path we have gone.

All we can do, and what we must do in each area of our life we find on the wrong road, is confess, turn around and go back to where we know we should be. The Lord will forgive and provide the strength and direction.
Mark