Many years ago, my wife and I were driving our son to get a physical for Scout Camp when we came to a detour in the road. We were perched at the top of a steep hill where the payment had been broken out exposing the dirt underneath. The sign clearly stated “Detour” and that the road was closed. Peering down the hill it appeared to me that I could maneuver down the rugged terrain with my 1985 conversion van without a problem. I could clearly see that the dirt portion of the road was less than 100 yards before the pavement re-started and disappeared around the bend. Gripping the wheel in my hands I thought of the additional time it would take to go back and take another route. At length I decided that since it was a downhill slope, and despite the added peril of rain, which was lightly falling, I could make it downhill and be on my way.

Against the protests of my wife, I backed he van up, made sure my son was fastened in and gunned the car engine. We took off flying from the pavement like the Dukes of Hazard landing part of the way down the hill. Like a true professional that I am, I was able to control the van all the way down the hill to the pavement. What a thrill! “See” I said to my wife, “I knew we could make it! Now we don’t have to go the long way!” I proudly glanced back at my son as I proceeded around the corner only to find two giant concrete barriers that were placed in the middle of the road twenty yards ahead blocking further advancement. My glee suddenly turned to horror as I could see that I was now trapped with no place to go but back up the steep muddy hill from whence I had so confidently come down.

The assent of the muddy hill was not so easy as the downward trip I had chosen. I gunned the engine and made it about halfway back up the hill when the wheels became embedded in the mud and it was clear that I was in deep trouble. With no phone (before cell phones) and now mired in the mud I sheepishly looked at my wife and son and told them I would go get help. I trekked up the hill and soon found that I had become the main attraction of other motorists. A police officer soon arrived, and I tried the best I could to explain my situation but no matter how I tried to couch it, a sign seeming to be flashing over my head, “Idiot at work!”

The officer called a tow truck and a half hour later one showed up. He ran a cable down the hill and hooked it to my van. However, that tow truck got pulled into the mud while trying to pull my van out and we had to call another tow company who hooked up to the first tow truck, who was hooked to me. Several hours later my van finally got pulled up the hill and back onto the pavement. All he while that “Road closed” sign was staring me in the face.

Hours had gone by when I sat back into the van having now missed my son’s appointment, totally embarrassed and hundreds of dollars poorer for the experience. I had learned a valuable lesson. “Obey the posted road signs!” My wife never said a word to me about the now “Hazard” event, but sometimes when we were driving along in that van she said, “This van has never run the same since…well, you know!”

The Lord has posted “road signs” along the highway of life. He sends us inspired leaders, and the scriptures, posting signs so that we may travel more safely through this life. We can choose to ignore those flashing lights and suffer the consequences, or we can follow the signs and detour around the results that come with making foolish decisions, often leaving us with nowhere to go but back. I found out the hard way that disobeying ‘road signs’ has unintended consequences that end up costing us money, reputation, and time.

By the way, that van never did run the same and I traded it in not long after at a loss. A consequence of being a “Duke of Hazzard!”