Detour

 

Sunday afternoon, we left church and went down US 41 Hwy towards Ringgold.  I needed to stop by the store, so I stopped at Food City on the way.  When we got back on the road, we took the scenic way, since it was a relaxing Sunday afternoon.  But when we came around the corner approaching Peavine Creek, we encountered a detour.  GDOT had constructed a temporary bridge to allow traffic to bypass the old bridge that they were replacing.  Often in life, there are detours too.  Four years of college may be interrupted by a death in the family.  An unplanned pregnancy may sidetrack a career.  A car accident may be a financial detour, a physical detour, or an emotional detour.  But did it ever occur to you that nothing has ever occurred to God?  God knows the future just as well as he knows the past.  In fact, God is in the future right now smoothing things out for His dear children.  Oh yes, He gives us detours to teach and test, but all are within His permissive will.  Even when Satan tempts spreading evil, God turns it around for His good and for our benefit.  Joseph was a powerful person in Egypt when his brothers came begging for food.  Joseph remembered his brothers’ treachery, selling him as a slave, but Joseph was not bitter.  Listen to his words in Genesis 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.”  Joseph knew that God had used his misfortune to rescue his entire family!  And God is using detours in your life for your good and for His glory.  Hey, trust God.  You’ll be glad that you did.