I Thought I Knew the Right Way!

I recently spoke at my home congregation in Portland, TN for their summer series. After finishing a great supper with my parents, I made my way to the church building ahead of them. Before I got to the building, I decided to take a stroll down memory lane and drive by the park where I used to play baseball.
After noticing how much the park had changed, I then decided I would drive by Watt Hardison Elementary School to bring back some early school memories. After enjoying my stroll down memory lane, I decided to go on to the church building. When I came to the stop sign, I turned right. Whoa, what just happened!? I knew immediately I had turned the wrong way. It had been so long since I had been through there, but I thought I would at least remember which way to go. I thought I knew the right way!
I believe many times in life we think we know the right way. In the overall longevity of humanity, this has been one of the problems that has plagued mankind. What we often think is the right way turns out to be in fact the wrong way. I'm not talking about taking a wrong turn on the road!
What really plagues us is when we make a decision that we think is right, but it is actually the opposite of the direction God wants us to go. Think about people in the Bible who turned down a path that was opposite God's path: Eve (when she allowed the serpent to deceive her), Cain (when he killed Abel) and David (when he chose to commit adultery with Bathsheba). I know the Bible is full of examples like this, but these are some with which we are very familiar.
Have you made a wrong turn lately? One of the great things about life is the ability to learn from our mistakes. The next time you have a choice to make, consider what direction God would have you go. Jesus said in John 8:29 "...I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."