The detour is the path

“For my thoughts are not your thoughs, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. - Isaiah 55:8

 (Part 2)

You don’t have to be a type A personality to get annoyed when you have to take a detour. Detours upset your plans, change your schedule, cause unexpected delays, and take you places you didn’t intend to go. Yet the fact is life is full of detours.

While it isn’t easy, you can learn that the detour is the path, and when you acknowledge that, it’s quite amazing how your attitude changes. Here’s how you can be happy while taking the detour.

1. Realize that there are no detours from God’s point of view. God knows what the detour will accomplish in your life that would never take place any other way. So God says, “Just trust Me. I know where it comes out and that’s where I want you to go.”

2. Acknowledge that nothing happens by chance. Joseph had a long detour in his life. Abducted by his half-brothers and sold into slavery, he ended up as a slave in Egypt. The detour was the path, which eventually led to the position of Prime Minister. When he finally confronted the brothers and had his chance for revenge, he simply said, “You meant it for evil but God meant it for good.”

3. Understand He walks with you on the detour. One of the most amazing promises Jesus made to His followers is that of His spiritual presence. “Never will I leave you,” He promised (see Hebrews 13:5). He never grows weary. He never loses His way.

4.  Remind yourself that God knows the way. When I’m on a detour, I tend to get nervous. But then I have to remember, God made the whole landscape. He’s never lost. He promised, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV).

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Used with permission from Guidelines International Ministries. To learn more about Guidelines and the ministry, send an e-mail to [email protected]. You may also visit www.guidelines.org.