Follow the Detour
By Bill Brinkworth

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

No one likes the aggravation of changing their travel plans by a detour in the road. The signs put up by the road’s work crew point us in a direction that is not what we had planned. One has to change direction 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 usually grumbles under his breathe. However, they obey the signs and the flagman, and get there safely. They may not have had that testimony if they did not obey their directions.

Too many ignore the “flagman” God has put in their path to move them in another 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 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. 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 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.