Tag Archives: God’s word is true

When you’ve reached a dead end

 

 

 

There are dead-end roads, dead-end relationships, dead-end jobs, dead-end ambitions and dreams.

 

Have you ever reached a ‘dead-end’ in the road to life? Maybe the sign was knocked down and you didn’t see it. Or maybe you suspected (and others warned) that it was a dead-end but you thought you’d take your chances anyway. Still, it’s frustrating, especially if you’ve gone down a long and difficult path only to discover there is no way out. You might think, “What a waste of time and energy! What am I going to do now? I’m lost!”

 

For sure there are dead ends we should try to avoid. They’re painful, dangerous, frightening, and costly. It’s said we recognize our mistakes when we make them again. Better that we learn from them the first time.

 

But not all dead ends can be avoided.  Sometimes it was easy to see my cancer journey as a dead-end. It could have been…literally. But even retracing my steps out of the situation seemed like a dead-end: all the money lost on medical bills, all the pain, the heartache others felt, the lost productivity, the lost strength, the delayed dreams and ambitions. If you’ve been down a dead-end road, you know the list goes on.

 

I heard someone say recently, “It’s not a dead-end if it takes you somewhere you need to go.” In other words, sometimes dead ends provide experience and insight we wouldn’t have obtained any other way.  Instead of dwelling on the disappointment, we can look at what we’ve learned on the journey. Yes, we reached the end of a path and had to retrace our steps, but what did we find that we didn’t have before?  Often it’s learning a lesson we learned a long time ago:

  • Life’s really about love and being faithful.
  • There are some things no one can take away from you: your choice to believe, your choice to trust, your choice to love, your choice to be hope.
  • Your circumstances don’t define who you are; your choices do that.
  • It’s better to be better than bitter.
  • Your heart can see what your eyes don’t.
  • Faith makes things possible, not easy, but possible.
  • Be thankful for the moment you have…it is all you have right now.
  • We often hear better when we’re quiet for a while.
  • Cherish the ones you love today. You don’t know how long you have.
  • Encouraging others usually encourages you.
  • It is always the right time to do the right thing.
  • What you see IS what you get. Choose the right lenses for your life.
  • YOU are not God. HE is.
  • God’s Word is really true. Believe it. Act like you believe it.
  • Focus on faith, hope, and love.

 

There is a way out of dead-end roads. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6  Let Him help you get on with your worthwhile journey!