by Gail Gritts
Don’t you just love those yellow warning signs pointing you to a detour? Especially when you have no idea where that detour is going to take you!
Detours take us off our planned path and are supposed to get us to our destination still. Some detours help us avoid hazards to keep us safe. But no matter the reason, most of us experience frustration, fear, and impatience when faced with the prospect.
Sometimes our spiritual life is thwarted with detours as well. I like to view them as providential redirection toward God’s goal – His purpose for my life. And I also see them as providential protection from a Good Father who is keeping me safe. That helps me not get so frustrated and fearful!
But even with this better perspective, I still get a knee-jerk reaction to detours. I no longer have control. Things seem out of order. They make me hesitant to continue.
Folks in the Bible experienced detours also. Probably the most extended detour in recorded history is the Israelites’ trek across the wilderness. A journey of eleven days turned into a 40-year detour and resulted in the death of a whole generation. Jonah created his own detour and wound up in the belly of a whale. Once he got back on track, he was angry, resentful and had a complete disregard for others. Michal, Saul’s daughter, had a couple of detours. She, too, did not handle it well and is recorded for all eternity as a spiteful and angry wife.
Others yielded to their detours. Joseph made the best of his detour. Nehemiah faced much opposition but completed his detour with dignity. David encountered many detours, but he knew the value of waiting on God’s timing. Esther experienced a challenging detour but saw it as the positioning of her life for the salvation of her nation—“for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).
Evelyn Christenson, in her book Gaining Through Losing, lists the following gains and loses we can learn during such times as these.
So that we might gain the purposes of God.
So that we might gain the strength of God.
So that we might gain the sovereignty of God.
So that we might gain the comfort of God.
So that we might gain hope in God
So that we might gain trust in God.
So that we might lose our rights.
So that we might lose our pride.
So that we might lose our possessions.
So that we might lose our apathy.
So that we might lose our fears.
God-directed detours have a purpose. It is so that we might gain much more in Christ, and lose more of our own weaknesses.
The thing with detours is that they do not last forever. Oh, they might land us at a different destination, but it will be a destination of God’s choosing. Through these detours we will see our sufferings used to magnify our Saviour, help us grow in Christ, be more sanctified and purified, etc. And, we can always be assured that God will bring us through the detour. He will not leave us beside the road. He brought Joseph through. He brought Moses through. He brought Paul through, and He will bring you through!
So what should be our attitude when we see that detour sign? We need to submit to the law of the road, and to the Lordship of our Saviour. Submission and obedience are key. And, we need to see that sign as protection, something for which we should be thankful. Detour signs are not placed randomly. They have a purpose. Thankfully, in wisdom and for our benefit and protection, the Lord directs our steps. He is the Lord of detours.