Detours by Tony Evans

I use the YouVersion Bible App on my phone and tablet, they have daily Bible plans which covers a wide variety of subjects. This one on Detours by Tony Evans is well worth reading, and explains why some of the things which happen in our life happens for a reason.

YouVersion plan ‘Detours’. Check it out here: https://www.bible.com/en/reading-plans/12127

So many times God has put me on a detour… it can be so frustrating, but saying that, it is with getting older and a little wiser, that God has showed me these detours are necessary. So if I’m doing something and I feel the Holy Spirt guide me down a different way, I allow Him to lead, so many times I have ended up better off because of it.

It reminds me of a picture I once saw of Jesus knelt down in front of a little girl, in the girls hands was a small teddy bear, which she was holding tight to and Jesus was asking for it with one hand stretched out, the other hand was behind His back with a huge version of that little bear. The little girl saying “But I love it, God” as in I don’t want to hand it over, and Jesus saying “Just Trust Me”. We sometimes hold on to things thinking we know best and God has something so much better waiting for us and is what He wants to give us, yet we stop Him from Blessing us. I’ve had to learn that detours are a good thing, they’ve also given me patience which as we know, is a virtue.

I remember a minister or it may have been a Sunday School Teacher, quoting Woody Allen once saying in Sunday School, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans”. And what they mean by that is this, you may have a plan for your life, you may have a plan for when you will get married, what job you’ll be in, what sort of house you’ll have, car you’ll drive, when you’ll be having kids, what school they will go to etc etc etc, but God has a “Perfect” plan for your life and yes, it will have detours in it. God showed me once this to go with the saying above. I had drawn out my life plan and filled it out on a sheet of A4 paper…. I handed it to God and He laughed, and said, “That is your plan, let me show you mine”… at which point He pulled out an old styled scroll which was rolled up and He let it open. It rolled down to His feet, bounced down the many steps from His thrown and kept rolling along the floor of the great hall. “This” he said, “Is what I have planned for you”.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

¹¹ “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

There are times we have in life where we think “What the heck is going on”, things happen and we wonder why? “Why me Lord?”, I believe everything happens for a reason. Somethings are to strengthen us, some to make us wiser, some to help others on their journeys. These “Detours” are important and if we see them as God wants us to learn, then we are Blessed by them, if we don’t, we end up going around and around in circles and never moving forward. To the point where we will have missed an opportunity to learn, be closer to God, to help others and most importantly become the men or women of God, He wants us to be.

Prayer: “Lord, Thank you for detours, we may not see what they are at the time, however we know you make them for us to grow in Spiritual Maturity and to grow closer to you. We ask for more detours in life, and that you will Bless us with Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge to see them for what they are. A way to be closer to you and to do your will, Amen”

TonyEvans.org

https://go.tonyevans.org/purpose-of-detours