Navigating Through Setbacks & Delays
You cannot go around the obstacle, you must push through it.
The day I realized that I would not be immediately entering medical school, I was devastated. I saw MY plans for my life crumbling, and I began to doubt my purpose and even wrote my dreams off as fraudulent. It is so easy for fear and doubt to cloud your mind when you run into a fork in the road. What do you do when you don’t achieve your expected outcome? When you don’t get the job, when you lose the friend, when you don’t get accepted? Do you freeze in fear or move in faith? How do we handle life as we know it turning upside down?!
Struggling with this dilemma, I had the option to either stop and wallow in my failure, or simply change directions and keep moving. Even though I was unsure and not very confident about my future, I continued on my journey and began to notice my development through the delay. I now see that the many detours I’ve faced has not only better prepared me for medical school, but also for my ultimate purpose. It is crazy to believe that there is only one way to accomplish a goal, only one path to success.
The myth of arrival tricks people into being unsatisfied until a dream end goal is achieved. We believe that we will be happy when… – but that day rarely comes. We have to understand that there is no ending destination, because every step forward we take on our journey is an arrival. God is the God of detour, not destination.
If we truly believe that all of our steps are ordered and we have a purpose on this Earth, then we must also believe that ALL things that come our way are meant for our good. Yes, even obstacles. No one wants to hear that, but every opportunity is wrapped in an obstacle. We get the decision to either rise to the challenge or allow disappointment and the fear of failure to forfeit our win. I have accepted the fact that God’s plans for me are better than my plans. His delays and detours are meant to mature and prepare us for the promise. We cannot skip the process.
Trust that even when you are confused and disappointed, if you keep moving forward, you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. You cannot stop. Change directions and keep moving forward.
2 Peter 3:9 – ‘The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake...’
Proverbs 16:9 – ‘In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.’
