[Joel's Lessons] God’s Detours (Dec 19)

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Joel Warren

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Dec 19, 2010, 1:00:03 PM12/19/10

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Mat 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. (19) Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. (20) But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. (21) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (22) Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, (23) Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (24) Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: (25) And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Gen 46:1-4 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. (2) And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. (3) And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: (4) I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Detour – a deviation from a direct course or the usual procedure; especially: a roundabout way temporarily replacing part of a route.

Sometimes along life's path, God throws us a detour. It may not seem to make sense. It may seem to be "out of the way," or it may seem frustrating, but God knows that sometimes we need extra measures, sometimes extreme, in order to see his glory. The other day, I was driving and was approaching an interchange. I needed to change lanes in order to go north, but the traffic was such that it seemed impossible. (It wasn't, really, but there were so many insane drivers out that day, I figured it was in my own best interest to not test my luck, haha.) Besides, with traffic stop-and-go, it almost seemed perfectly logical to just stay in my lane, end up on the south-bound lane and turn around at the next exit, which was only a mile away and an area with literally no traffic. It only took an extra minute, but it was an odd detour to take. But as I got on the highway and rounded the bend, I was presented with an amazing view in the sky as the sun lowered and was about to set. As I cruised down and turned around, beating the traffic, the thought crossed my mind that if I had headed north and avoided the detour, I would have missed the work of art that God had painted on the sky. See? Sometimes you have to think of the positive aspects of a situation when things don't seem to go the way you intended (or expected). When we are following God, a detour may be an altered route God uses to protect, preserve, and teach us about Himself and His will. In the scriptures listed above, people saw some pretty drastic changes to their plan, but it all fit into God's plan—the "bigger picture." A detour may seem like an inconvenience (or worse), but God may be using it to teach us something—or maybe even something on a much greater scale like changing a life or saving a multitude. Keep your eyes on the Lord. He will direct your path…including the detours.