The U-Turn

Have you ever gone on a long road trip? Hours and hours of travel to get to the destination. If you were around before GPS, you may remember reading the atlas in your car trying to navigate. Or even printing out directions that you could follow step by step. It’s an exciting time to just hit the open road. But have you ever gone on that trip and after hours and hours of driving, stopping at the rest stops, and grabbing whatever coffee and food you could find; you realize that you missed your turn and are miles and miles in the wrong direction. All of sudden your road trip has found you in a place you didn’t expect miles from where you want to be, and unsure how to navigate the road ahead to find a new path. Eventually you land on the only possible solution. The U-turn. You turn around and head back where you came from. You find the last known direction and begin back on the path toward the destination. Without the U-turn, you would only find yourself further from the goal. There’s freedom in turning around. It’s a reset and gets you back on the right track.

That’s the role of repentance for the believer. Oftentimes, because of sin, we find ourselves in places we never thought we’d be. Facing situations we never thought possible. And traveling roads that are far from our intended destination. Sin has ravaged the world leaving us feeling lost and confused. Wondering how we even got there. As believers, we’ve been given a U-turn option. The apostle John wrote that If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9 NIV).

The God we serve is a God of hope, justice, and forgiveness. He wants us on the path that leads to righteousness. Our sin has thrown a wrench into our journey and set us on an unforeseen detour. Repentance is the U-turn toward righteousness. However, too often we see repentance as a bright spotlight being cast on our failures revealing how bad of people we are. However, true repentance is an act of courage. It slams on the breaks on the destructive path we're on and makes the U-turn back toward where God is leading. When we honestly come to those we’ve hurt and before God to confess our shortcomings, there’s freedom. Instead of running away further down the wrong direction, repentance turns us around to run into the arms of a loving Father waiting to give us a fresh start. 

Wherever you might be today. Whatever may be holding you down. Whatever the struggle that has led you to this point. And no matter how far away you may feel, there’s time to make a U-turn and get back on the path God has called you to. He’s faithful and just.