God charts the road you take.

Psalm 1:8, The Message

Rascal Flatts recorded a song called “Blessed the Broken Road”. The chorus goes something like this:

"Every long lost dream led me to where you are

Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars

Pointing me on my way into your loving arms

This much I know is true, that God blessed the broken road

That led me straight to you"

Do you think that scripture verse is true? Is it true for your life? How about the song … ring a bell? I believe God was charting my road even before I knew Him … many years before I committed my life to serve Him. Allow me to explain.

I was seven years old when I realized how much I loved to sing. It was the first thing I did that caused someone to applaud for me. I debuted at my elementary school assembly in second grade. Because of my love for music I grew up with the dream of being a singer, only to have it shot down, and ultimately giving it up on that dream.

I've always had a deductive mind, even when I was young. I loved watching the police and detective shows on t.v. I always felt like I was pretty perceptive, like I'd pick up on things that other people wouldn't or couldn't. I wanted to go to college, then transfer to a police academy of some kind, and eventually join the FBI or CIA. Through a series of events, that dream was shot down as well ... no pun intended.

I was dating a girl when I was 20 years old. I really thought she was “the one”. That is until I found out she was cheating on me for about six months. She was just one in a series of people who broke my heart.

I enrolled at Michigan State University in the fall of 1987. I had flunked out by the end of December 1988. My dream of attending a Big Ten University, the dreams my parents had for me, the hope of graduating, getting a good job, chasing the American Dream … gone.

I married the most wonderful, God fearing, beautiful woman in March of 1992. We're still married today. How she's put up with me for this long I'll never know. We haven't endured many struggles, but the disappointment we both felt of not being able to have children just about killed us both. Another dream … lost.

I could go on and on with more stories but I think you get the point. Life is hard for everyone, and my wife and I are no exception. Maybe you're no exception. During the times when all I mentioned above was happening, I wasn't walking with the Lord. I'd say about half of the crap that happened to me in life happened before I knew Him, the other half after. So the question is this: Was God charting the course all along or was I in charge before I let Him in? Was He directing me down the roads I took … the broken roads of life … or was I? Here's my uneducated opinion: He was. I believe every thing I've ever done in life, every decision I've made, every right and wrong choice, every mistake … everything … has been part of God's plan for me. That I know. What I don't know is why. Why did my dad leave us when I was seven? Why was my brother killed in a car accident a few months later? Why was I born with a severe stuttering problem that I dealt with and suffered humiliation because of until I was 23? Why did people who I was so loyal to hurt me so much? Why did I have to deal with severe back pain for 13 years and undergo five surgeries? Why did I fall into a depressed state, suffer from severe anxiety as a result of that pain? Why was I born with Attention Deficit Disorder? Why, why, why, why …....?

I guess the real question is why keep asking? If God has truly charted my road, is it my job to ask where are we going next? Is it my place to question why things happened? You know what … I don't know. I really don't. This is a part of life, especially my spiritual life, where I just don't know the answer. I've never claimed to know it all, but I certainly don't know the answers to these questions. Here is what I know: on August 20, 1989, I asked Jesus into my heart. From that day on He was in control. I've tried to take it back a thousand times, but He is in control … He is charting my road. When you lose a lot of your physical ability, lose your job, fail a few dozen times at things, get stabbed in the back now and then, get attacked, hurt, and just flat out have bad things done to you and you'll start letting Him chart your road too.

I'm excited to see where my road leads. I'm nervous … very scared at times … paralyzed with anxiety now and then because I don't give up control that easily, but excited nonetheless. I'm not sure I did much of sales job on you here to trust Jesus with your life.  If I didn't, God can redeem it.  Hopefully if you haven't already, you'll give him a chance.

I'll end with two things: 1) I'd rather go through all this with Him than without Him, and 2) What do you – those who haven't trusted Him – have to lose by trying to do things God's way? Just askin' ….