Plan B is never my first choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t most of us prefer Plan A? That is always the preferred\nroute. The best course of action. The expected path to fulfillment. Surely no\none starts with Plan B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plan B is the alternate route. The way we must go when Plan A fails. The road life forces us to take when the unexpected blocks our way. Looking back over a few decades, I\u2019ve noticed many of us have lived much of our life in Plan B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plan B is the alternate route. The way we must go when Plan A fails. The road life forces us to take when the unexpected blocks our way. I\u2019ve noticed many of us have lived much of our life in Plan B. . <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n A good word to substitute would be detour<\/em>. Thesaurus uses these words for detour: diversion, deviation,\nbypass, alternate route, and (my favorite), long way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When traveling, we don\u2019t usually select the long way around. Unless we have deliberately chosen the scenic route, we seek the straight highway. A \u201cdetour\u201d sign means we\u2019ll be spending extra time on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That little word detour<\/em>\ntransforms our journey, breezing along in the sunshine to a dark, ominous drive\nthrough the unknown. How do we respond? Disappointment. Discouragement.\nDistress. Despair. (That\u2019s the valley of the D\u2019s.) Throw in a few more emotions.\nFrustration. Irritation. Exasperation. Fury. Did I cover the topic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, Plan B is never my first choice. Who prefers a detour\nover a straight path?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We see detours as a setback. An unfruitful experience. Barrenness. God sees them as training ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We see detours as a setback. An unfruitful experience. Barrenness. God sees them as training ground. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Moses\u2014the baby rescued from the bulrushes by the Egyptian Pharaoh\u2019s\ndaughter\u2014grew up in the palace enjoying privilege, position, and power. Surely\nhis birth-mother, who became his nurse, told him God had spared him for a\nmighty purpose. Maybe that dominated his thinking and led to his losing his\ntemper and striking an Egyptian to defend a fellow Israelite. Anyway, he fled\nin shame. A murderer. A wanted man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Could pride have been a factor contributing to his undoing? He\nspent the next forty years in the desert. Detour or training ground?<\/p>\n\n\n\n All I know is God had chosen him long ago for a mission\nbeyond anything Moses could have imagined\u2014to lead his people out of bondage to\na new land where they would serve him and prosper. When God spoke to him\nthrough the flaming bush, Moses didn\u2019t beat his chest in pride and declare his\nworthiness. He said, \u201cWho am I that I should go\u2026?\u201d (Exodus 3:11). He came up\nwith reasons he couldn\u2019t possibly accept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What happened to his pride? Later the Bible says Moses was the meekest man on the earth (Numbers 12:3). The wilderness had done its work. He\u2019d become a man totally dependent on God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The refiner\u2019s fire removes dross to produce purity. The\nwilderness experience gets out the crud\u2026the filth\u2026to make us usable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Detours rarely lead to picturesque parks and picnics. Often\nthey involve deep, desolate canyons of isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The child of God who is following him wholeheartedly and seeking to obey him in everything can be confident he has a purpose in the wilderness. The detour is not punishment. It\u2019s preparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can truthfully say I\u2019m never excited about Plan B. But I\ncan truthfully say I\u2019m excited about what God will do in Plan B. It\u2019s beginning\nto look like my Plan B is his Plan A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One thing\u2019s for sure: if God leads us into a wilderness, he\nwill provide for us there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBehold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth;\nshall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in\nthe desert\u2026I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give\ndrink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself; they shall\nshew forth my praise\u201d (Isaiah 43:20b-21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n There may be a detour ahead. But who knows what God has\ndesigned beyond it? Rejoice in Plan B!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Plan B is never my first choice. Don\u2019t most of us prefer Plan A? That is always the preferred route. The best course of action. The expected path to fulfillment. Surely no one starts with Plan B. Plan B is the alternate route. The way we must go when Plan A fails. The road life […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[474,476,473,9,113,477,472,35,475],"class_list":["post-1228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-alternate-route","tag-desert","tag-detour","tag-dianne-barker","tag-moses","tag-plan-a","tag-plan-b-is-never-my-first-choice","tag-pride","tag-wilderness"],"yoast_head":"\n