Know No-Outlets

We knew exactly where we were going, even with a “no outlet” sign penetrating the dark night with a highly reflective warning.   It was a shortcut.  Sam was my co-pilot and he wasn’t asking any questions as we zipped by the sign, he just sat there and waited to see it all play out because he had been down this road before with his Dad.

Despite the “No Outlet” sign broadcasting the…no outlet path before us, we kept on rolling along.  And we weren’t the only ones!  To my surprise there were 3 cars in front us all barreling towards the outlet that didn’t exist.  I wondered if the others knew the road or just hopped on it because they were desperate to find any way out of town.

All of us were attempting to get out of town quickly.  A small town near us had its annual Halloween parade, where Sam was a participant.  They call it a parade but it’s more like a marathon, a test of endurance for both participant and spectator.  It’s loooooong.  But it’s a parade done well and quite a spectacle with what seems like over half the town in the parade. 

As the parade wound down the streets quickly became jammed with tractors, floats, sports teams, and spectators in vehicles trying to find a way out of town.

After Sam fulfilled his mission we quickly ran across town and jumped in the truck.  It didn’t take long for me to recap the parade route in my mind and compare it to the roads that I needed to be on in order to get home.  There weren’t many options.   Having a horse would have been a pretty valid vehicle choice in this situation.  Or a helicopter. 

But as my mind rolled through all the options to go home, I remembered one way that would be…unconventional.  So that’s the direction we headed.

Not long after turning onto the road that was marked with “no outlet”, an oncoming small truck slowed to a crawl and the driver frantically waved us down.  This poor fella found out that the road was indeed a road to almost nowhere and he wanted me to know.  “The roads out up there!” he excitedly told me, to which I replied “I know!” and kept on trucking.  Sam thought this was hilarious.  Why would anyone know a road has no outlet and yet still motor on down the road?

There was a crisis when the road ended.  This is where the vehicles in front of me came to a screeching halt and the realization that the sign was indeed true.  There was no outlet; just a private driveway and a creek.  Game over, case closed, retreat!  Each car made a 3-point turn and roared back the way they came.  They obviously had not been here before.

But we weren’t done because I had been in this spot before.  I had gone down this road, under different circumstances, and discovered that there was a way out.  The no outlet sign was a warning but not the end of the road.  There was no need to turn around.

Have you ever gone down this road?  Not this literal road but the one where your destination seems to be down a no outlet road?  Have you endured seemingly endless dead ends?  Your desire may be to get to a fresh start, a new thing, a better way, but all you see are the signs and people saying to turn around, to retreat, or to settle.

I’m not telling you to avoid wisdom and discernment and ignore everything…but certainly I’m telling you to follow God when it he tells you to go with Him.  He doesn’t care if the sign says “no outlet” because He’s a better sign, and way, maker!  Not all man-made signs are believable; why else would 3 cars continue down a road that had no outlet?  There was hope that there would be a path forward even with the sign telling us otherwise.  We all have varying degrees of questions and hope and are willing to go down paths to truly find the answer!

Sam and I watched the cars make their change of directions and then we pulled into a smaller dirt road, also marked with a dead-end sign.  But immediately after seeing the sign the moon’s reflection hit the water and that was the point where Sam knew exactly where he was.  Giggles ensued.   I switched into four-wheel drive and we poked along, through the shallow creek and onto the other side where a paved road and home awaited.  There was indeed a way.

I am no stranger to dead ends and no-outlets.  Perhaps you have felt that way in your journey as well.  But it doesn’t mean the story ends there.  Don’t stop pursuing God and following his lead.  Even if it seems like a dead end there is something there.  Hopefully we have all felt God at work and recognized His handiwork in our lives.  Don’t forget that.  That’s what carries us through the naysayers, the no-outlet signs, and quite honestly the doubt that lives in between our ears!

We aren’t the only ones.  It’s a theme directly from the Christmas story.  Joseph had faith and followed God.  But he also had a crisis.   He had his wife-to-be, Mary, but there was a problem with marrying her.  She was expecting a child and he had nothing to do with it.   That scenario was a good reason to believe the “no outlet” signs in Josephs life.  He didn’t see a way out or a way forward even being a guy that thought he was faithful and obedient to God.  What a conundrum.

Before he could quietly divorce her and move on with life God provided a way through the perceived dead end.  And thank goodness He did, because Joseph’s decision to keep going, and God’s faithfulness, gives us hope for our future and forgiveness for our sins.  An angel visited Joseph and told Him to keep going, what God was up to, and to be the husband that Mary needed and the father that Jesus would need.  God gave Him a way forward and Joseph kept going.

Dead ends and no-outlets are real downers if we let them define us.  But God hasn’t abandoned us nor are those signs the end of the road.  We can choose to remember the times when God provided and He created a way.  He did it for Joseph; who became the earthly father for a boy whose name means “God with Us.” 

He’s with us.  Then, now, and always.  Keep going.