Blessed are the Blocked

I went through a long stretch of being underemployed, but this year I received an offer to join Sandals Church staff full-time. Before starting the new position, Pastor Matt Brown invited me to meet with other leaders to discuss the church discipleship path. I knew it was an important meeting and set out plenty early to make it across the freeway with room to spare. As I approached the church building, I was on time. Twenty minutes early was a minor miracle for someone who presses the margins—like me! As I rolled toward the church, I was feeling good about myself, and felt even better when I had time to delay for the unanticipated train passing. But then something happened. The train stopped. Completely. I sat in my truck for ten minutes before anxiously concluding: if I don’t do something, I am going to be late!

Forced into action, I boldly maneuvered my truck onto the shoulder and drove backwards past twenty plus lined cars! With no permit or permission I then parked in a company’s lot. Abandoning my car, I got out, walked through the line of cars only to face the same obstacle of the standstill train. At this moment of bizarre contemplation, I sensed that everyone waiting was now watching. They all wanted to see what I was going to do. I measured how I could crawl underneath, but then saw a ladder, and so I climbed up over the train! As I put my hands to the rails and hoisted myself upward, I had this strange sensation come over me—it was like I was in a movie. What is the line, “Able to leap tall trains in a single bound”—No, its “tall buildings’—you get the idea—it was invigorating!

In some ways it was just another trip to the office. Yet this slight challenge evoked in me something existential. It reminded me that I was made and wired for adventure. That God didn’t put me on the planet to avoid obstacles, but rather to face those hurdles with whatever courage and creativity I could muster.

Is it time to thank God for the blessedness of a blocked path? What is the wall rising in front of you right now? Yea, that first thing that popped into your head. Don’t be discouraged or dismayed. Perhaps the Lord has a big-time adventure in mind . . . one that will take you on a new course . . . one that will lead you to go up and over . . . and one that will make you feel totally alive!