Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” Exodus 13:17

You’ve just started your vacation! The luggage is crammed into the car, and what wouldn’t fit got lashed on top! After you turned off the main highway to reach your destination, you were confronted with a roadblock and a big yellow and black sign reading, “DETOUR!” This is the last thing in the world that you wanted! Detours are no fun, time-consuming, annoying, and they slow you down. They take you places you don’t want to go.

Hey, roads are not the only places where there are detours. The reality is that life is full of detours. They include your future plans, your health, your investments, your work, and your romances. A detour may take you far astray and slow you down. Just this morning as I prepared to open the file on my computer marked scripts, it wasn’t there. “No,” I thought to myself, “this can’t be! It has to be there. It was there last week, and it’s been in the same spot for a long, long time.” I squinted and carefully read through the list of files and then thought of what I intended to write for today’s commentary. I smiled as I thought, “You’re taking a detour right now.” Yes, I had the file backed up, but it took time to locate the folder and delayed my getting started—a minor detour, for sure.

You may remember that Moses and the sons of Abraham took a forty year detour in the wilderness. Moses wrote, “When Pharoah let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, ‘If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt’” (Exodus 13:17). Actually within a few weeks after they left Egypt, they came to Arad, located at the southern tip of the Dead Sea—a jumping off spot to Canaan—and then—WHOA! A detour sign that pointed them into desert instead of a land of milk and honey.

Detours always force us to ask, “Why? How come there’s a road block and a menacing sign that says, “Detour! There are some reasons.

Some detours in life are there because God has a better plan—one that you can’t see at the time, one that actually you can’t even imagine. God had to get Egypt out of the hearts of His people to allow Canaan to take root. Joseph also had a long detour in his life, one that resulted in his being taken to Egypt as a prisoner, a slave with his future on hold. Paul’s life is a study of detours of one kind or another.
Some detours are the result of simply missing the road. The sign was there as plain as the nose on your face, but you were talking, goofing off, consumed with conversation or thought, and you just didn’t see the sign that said, “Turn here!” And when you realized it, you were confronted with a detour that was time consuming and lengthy. Much like the Prodigal you finally came to your senses and got your feet headed the right direction. The detour was the result of your failure, not God’s.
Some detours are there because of circumstances you have no control over. I was headed to a family reunion when a freeway sign flashed a signal, “Detour!” An accident ahead had blocked the highway. There was nothing to do but patiently take the detour.
Detours produce growth in our lives. They stretch us, teach us, humble us, and direct us to where we ultimately want to go. As Warren Wiersbe says, “It’s the bumps we grow on.” Include detours in that one.

Resource reading: Deuteronomy 1:1-18.