Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance-as I told you before-that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit. We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.   Galatians 5:19-26 HCSB

Life is a journey. We sometimes take a wrong turn and end up somewhere we had hoped we would never be. We sometimes face road blocks and have to detour. Perhaps you have heard the saying, “You can’t get there from here.” Now of course this statement is ironic because we know that we can get anywhere from anywhere. We have GPS and Siri to guide us. And if you are old school like me you can always pull out your trusty road map or Atlas.

Yesterday I was speaking with a friend about my dream vacation. In this dream vacation, time would not be an issue so I would rent a car and head west and see the Grand Canyon. I would then travel north and visit states like Wyoming and Montana. Mentally I have planned out each state that I would visit and where I would stop.

But in the journey of life, we can’t always plan it out so well. We face those roadblocks and sometimes have to detour. Back when I had rededicated my life to Christ. I had begun attending church every Sunday. I was dedicated to being in church. One Sunday, I left on my usual route only to find that they were moving a mobile home and had blocked the road. I had to turn around and go back about a half a mile in order to detour and go around. No trouble, I still had time to get to Sunday School on time. I took my detour and as I got to the end of that road where I needed to turn left to get to the road that led straight to our church, there was another road block. A wreck had occurred and had traffic blocked. Now by turning right, it was going to send me way around and out of my way and take a lot more time. I was going to be late. The devil told me to just go home, I was not meant to go to church that morning. This is where I realized that the devil was the one that kept blocking the roads. Right then and there I let the devil know that I was going to church. I may get there as the last song is being sung, I may get there as it is letting out, but I was going to church. I took the right and went the long way around and got there only about 10 minutes late for Sunday School.

Some road blocks are placed by God. Maybe that road block saved you from traveling on that road and getting into an accident. Maybe that roadblock allowed time to work things out.

Some roadblocks are just annoyances caused by the devil. But that’s okay, we serve a God who has defeated the devil. That battle has already been won. So, congratulations, you are on the winning team.

Now you may wonder how we determine whether it is God or the devil that has set up this roadblock for you. That’s a good question. The only way we can understand is to be in close relationship with our Lord and Savior. We need to be in God’s will in order for us to understand these things. We need to be in a loving, trusting relationship with Him. We need to constantly pray for His wisdom and discernment.

The other way to tell who has set up the road block is by looking at what it is blocking you from doing. If it is designed to block you from doing God’s will, like maybe attending a Bible study or church service, you can be sure it’s the devil. If it is blocking you from doing something that you should not be doing, then it is the Holy Spirit that is trying to stop you.

So, if you are facing something that is blocking you. Stop, pray for wisdom and discernment and most importantly for God’s will. Trust in Him to let you know whether you simply need to be still (Psalm 46:10) and wait while he works to clear your pathway (Proverbs 3:5-7) or whether you need to detour.

Whatever road blocks you may be facing, I can assure you that if you travel on the path that God has set forth, He will make your pathway straight.

Have a great day!