When We Need to Make a U-Turn

 Probably all of us who drive have made a U-Turn at one time or another, and maybe not all of them have been legal. ~Smile~ U-Turns are a handy way to go back to that turn or exit you missed, which has now put you in unknown territory or has you feeling lost. Sometimes life is the same way—we need to make a U-Turn to get back to the point where we missed God or took a wrong turn.

Back in October I found myself without an income and on the job search. At 60, that was a little frightening to say the least. But instead of taking time to remember my history with the Lord and how very faithful He has always been, (I have been in tighter places before) I took the first thing that came along. And the sad thing about it all was, deep down I knew this couldn’t be what the Lord had for me, but I allowed fear and the demands of someone else push me to make a poor decision.  

Let me go back and give you a little background on something the Holy Spirit told me a few years ago. Tovah was in the 11^th grade at the time and we knew she was college bound and I began to question God about what that would mean for me? I wanted to know what lie ahead for me and how I could change my life and lack of finances. He told me (without a doubt), “You are going to write your way out of it!” My faith partner had been praying with me and once I had my answer we began talking about it and get excited.

The past 7 months I have been working on two major writing projects. I’m talking about something that with God’s favor will really change my life! And Boom! I got off the wrong exit and found myself lost! Yes!! I took a job that had nothing to do with writing. They were very deceitful about things and each week I was there it went from bad to worst! And to top it all off, I was no longer working on my writing projects and missed an important deadline. Fear had won out for a minute.

That’s the bad news, but the good news is—I made a U-Turn and went back to the point where I had stopped trusting and waiting on the Lord to open up a door. What does that mean for me? I’m back where I started, with no income but this time I’m going to wait on Him. No more giving into the counterfeits of our enemy.

Sisters, it’s okay to admit that you got ahead of God, or made a wrong or poor decision. He knew we were going to do it before we did. Whenever we give into fear we can count on ending up in some sort of mess. Women have married out of fear. I’m afraid to be alone. Soon I’ll be too old to have children. I’m tired of struggling by myself. I will be happier when I have a husband. Fear has motivated people to steal from their friends, family members, employers and their church. Fear is the reason some people are now sitting in jail, but most of all—fear is a huge reason for so much unhappiness in the Body of Christ. When we allow our circumstances to consume us versus the Word of God, fear can become a motivating factor for disaster for sure.

At first it seemed like a blessing from God when I went to the job fair. Initially I was told one thing as far as what my wages would be by the HR person. After going through drug testing and a second interview, as I was signing my paperwork there was a discrepancy of $1.60 per hour. I didn’t agree to the wage and the manger went back to HR and he was told by the HR manager who interviewed me that she did not tell me what I said she did. She advised him she told me I wouldn’t be making that amount. There was the huge red flag. Come on, how many interviews do you go on and you talk about what you are not going to make? Exactly—none! But fear said, “It is so close to the holidays you will never find anything right now.” So, instead of trusting God, I took the job. The next week, I found out it was a union job. Shouldn’t I have been told that before I started working? Yes! But I wasn’t. I could give you a list of other stuff that just continued to go wrong and more deceitfulness, but it would be a waste of good time. The bottom line is, God made it very clear—time to go! No, I had a plan to try to stay to the end of January before I had to pay union dues, but once I made my U-Turn and went back to where I had gone wrong, I had no choice but to do it God’s way.

Please don’t misunderstand me and think that because you have stepped out in faith and things are difficult or hard that you have made a wrong turn, no that is not what I am saying. But if things are really crazy, and you are worst off then when you started, maybe you need to make a U-Turn back to where you were before this all started. Take a hard look at what is going on and how you got there. Did you move ahead of God? Is this a situation you created by your own hands or is this what God has for you?

There are many struggles and difficulties in life that we have no control over, but there are also struggles and hardships that we are the inventors of. Either way we serve a mighty God and His mercy and grace are abundant and ever flowing for us.

Fear is the author of many a sad story, but as a writer the one thing I know for sure—stories can be rewritten. So, my dear sisters, if you are in a not so good place because of fear, make a U-Turn because unlike the driving laws of this world where you might see the sign “No U-Turns” in the Kingdom of God that is never the case! God is right where you left Him. He is our ever present help in our times of need…even when we messed up and created the need!

Until next week….be blessed!!

Love and Hugs
Ponnie