Follow the Detour

Bill Brinkworth

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Pro. 3:6

No one likes the aggravation of changing their travel plans because of a detour in the road. The signs put up by the road’s work crew point us in a direction that is not where we had planned to go. One has to change direction and go another way. We are not in control. We have to follow someone else’s plan in getting us where we want to go.

“Who do those construction people think they are? Making me go this long way. Why, I just want to go a little way down the road,” one may grumble under his breath. However, he obeyed the signs and the flagman, and got there safely. He may not have had that testimony if he did not obey their directions. He may have had a terrible accident and destroyed his vehicle, if he had ignored the detour signs and continued on the path he wanted to go.

Too many ignore the “flagman” God has put in their path to move them in a better direction. Maybe that test you failed, even though you “studied your brains out,” was a “flagman” to get you to know and later witness to a tutor. Perhaps, it was intended to build your perseverance. If you had cheated, and passed, you would not be going down the road God had planned for you.
Maybe the family split, although not God’s first plan, had something you could learn from it. Sticking-it out and praying through the problem will help you; so divorce never happens in your life. Maybe, after going through that terrible event, you will be able to minister to others in that situation. Running away from that situation would be going through the “detour.”

No one likes or wants a serious illness. Yet in the dark, scary valley where the sickness takes one, it is probably the time the patient is the closest to God. It is most likely the time when the most prayers are cried out, and when trusting in the Lord is the greatest.

Use your imagination as to how God could use the bad things in your life for His and your good. He is aware of your roadblock. A Christian is to be sensitive to the leading, as well as the halting of the Lord. Give Him credit for all that happens in your life, and He will direct your path. Trials and detours are many times intended to get us closer to God; so that we can see His wondrous hand in our lives.

This article was featured in The Bible View #104.