Surviving The Detours

By John Stallings

…..I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am….Philippians 4:13---The Message



The other night I saw actor Kevin Costner on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Costner told about being on the verge of quitting acting many years ago. Circumstances placed him & his new wife on a flight with actor Richard Burton returning from Mexico. Burton didn’t really know Costner but agreed to talk to him after he finished some reading.

When Burton got around to allowing ‘peon” Costner to sit by him for a few minutes, Costner got inspiration that reinvigorated his life & career. He went on to great things in the field of acting while Burton continued seeking his answers in the bottom of a bottle.

Who’d have thunk it? Who’d have guessed that such a small moment would reap such rich rewards for Costner? Yet I’ve heard story after story of people who through chance meetings learned the things that would, unbeknownst to them later define their lives. Maybe it can be explained with the word “serendipity” or stumbling over something wonderful.

We also call these experiences destiny, or providence, but it seems to be an experience fairly common to most everyone. Of course when your life is lived in pursuit of God you have a guarantee that He’s ordering your steps with a divine pattern in mind.

ANCIENT ISRAEL WAS NO EXCEPTION

Jeremiah had warned God’s people time & again that they would be taken into captivity. God was going to have to break them down in order to build them up again.

Jeremiah was one of those left behind when the people of God had been taken captive so he wrote to those in exile. Here was one of his most potent messages paraphrased from Jeremiah chapter 29;

“Don’t just sit there longing for home. You’ll be kept in captivity for seventy years but in the meantime, get on with your lives. Don’t live & die in exile waiting for a more perfect day. Instead engage life, live, build, plant, marry, pray for things & bloom where you’re planted. It’s the only thing you can do. You are still God’s people & you have a purpose & a destiny. Don’t worry about timing, let God worry about that. If you’re not busy living, then you’re busy dying”

We would probably expect a prophet to say, “be faithful by being pure & don’t mix & mingle. Keep to yourself & do only what you have to do. Pray that your captors are put into confusion & disarray & be overthrown. Certainly don’t pray for them to be blessed.”

However, Jeremiah was telling these exilic folk not to wait. “Don’t put your life on hold. Don’t get lost in what is no longer & don’t get lost in what is not yet. Stop waiting & get on with your life, right now, right where you are, even if you are on enemy territory.”

I submit that these were somewhat strange instructions to give God’s people. Instructions to be a blessing to the ones who’d conquered God’s city, destroyed God’s temple & carried God’s people off into captivity.

There’s an attitude here that’s not to be overlooked. A mind-set that at least for now, the welfare of their enemy would be their own welfare & what they did for their enemy they’d be doing in the final analysis for themselves.

THE “MEANTIME” MIGHT BE ALL THE TIME WE HAVE

What we do during “the meantime” or our “Detours” makes all the difference.

Someone has said, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” Jeremiah is telling God’s people, “God still has your phone number. God hasn’t gone to Key West & forgotten you. You aren’t anonymous, your life isn’t irrelevant & you aren’t lost in space. Come on now; don’t get life & death confused.”

JOSEPH

I’ve ransacked the story of Old Testament Joseph through the years but there still remains so much treasure to be mined there.

Joseph’s was a “rags to riches” story. He’s in a dungeon but not for long. Soon he’s discovered when Pharaoh hears about his gifts & takes Joseph to the very top of Egyptian power—from the filthy prison to the top of the world. Don’t we all love it when a life-plan comes together?

Here’s what seemed to jump out at me as I reread Joseph’s story. Things go so bad for Joseph for so long that the writer has to keep reminding us that God is with him or we just might forget that fact. We read “The Lord was with Joseph” four times in Genesis chapter 39 [V.2, 3, 22, 23]. If we looked at it in strictly human terms, not one thing good happened to Joseph from the time he was seventeen until he was thirty years old. That's quite a long detour don't you think?

Have you ever been hurt by people you love? Have you ever been set-up, falsely accused & unjustly punished? Have you ever done your best, been promised a reward & then seemingly been forgotten? Have you ever been tempted to use your abilities & whatever power you had to get even with those who hurt you & make them really suffer? If so the story of Joseph has something to say to you.

Through everything that happened to Joseph, he did exactly what any other person would have done given his circumstances….that is…..any person who was convinced as Joseph was that God was with him…..anyone who didn’t take God’s silence for God’s absence.

Joseph’s break finally comes with this call from Pharaoh to interpret his dreams when others don’t dare. Joseph not only makes sense of the dream, he goes further & offers a plan to save Egypt in a coming famine. Genesis 41:35---They should collect food from the good years & store it up for the bad years to come. Pharaoh liked the plan so much he hires Joseph for the job.

In a flash Joseph leaves the smelly dungeon to wear royal clothing while riding in Pharaoh’s chariot with people bowing down to him.

JOSEPH IS A MODEL FOR US ON OUR DETOURS

Joseph can inspire us when we’re going through dark & puzzling days when we can’t seem to track God. When we look through the thick fog & all we can see are more gloomy days, when we wake up each morning seemingly to nothing.

Joseph’s life shows us how to relate to people who are treating us with disdain, shows us how to keep our interior life healthy & models for us what a winner’s attitude really looks like. Joseph could very easily have become an emotional cripple because of what he was put through. He could have just collapsed inside & thought, “Well, life as I’ve known it is over. My life has come off the rails & become a living nightmare. I haven’t seen the sun for years now & will probably never see it again. Death would be preferable to this so that’s it for me, I give up.”

Joseph could also have taken another tack. Remember the plan to save much of world from starvation was Joseph’s “brain child.” When it came to grey matter, Joseph had it going on. He could, as some people do that are locked up, have spent his time plotting his escape & revenge. Think of what an intelligent young man like Joseph could have done in the way of carnage & destruction if he’d had a bent in that direction. This young man had been unjustly put through hard times that would have broken lesser men but he refused to give in to bitterness & resentment. He just felt he had to live his life as best he could possibly live it despite the disparaging circumstances.

Again, the thing that made Joseph different & gave him the strength to survive all he endured was that he really believed his life wasn’t over & that God hadn’t abandoned him. He didn’t blame God for the injustices of human beings. He believed that even in a dungeon he could still be a servant of God & this attitude sustained him. Living with this mind-set was what allowed him to respond the way he did to all the disappointments he experienced. He was confident that God was with him & was at work in his life no matter what the circumstances.

You & I can learn a lot from Joseph especially when bad times come, the times when life is unfair, the times when we’re tempted to become bitter, to hunger for revenge, or to wallow in self-pity.

We shouldn't think that the life of Joseph & the perspective he had is too idealistic to be relevant in our lives. If you’re experiencing an “in the meantime” patch in your life, never underestimate the importance of how you live through those days, months or years. Bad times don’t limit the meaning or the significance of what we do in the sight of God.

PAUL

I love Paul’s letter to the Philippians because it’s so warm & friendly & full of Joy. Paul is at his absolute best in this letter. Jail or no jail this man triumphs, always. Imprisonment doesn’t seem to touch his spirit except to strengthen it.

Can you imagine what a sports team could do with a man like Paul? Even though they were behind on the scoreboard, Paul would keep saying, “Look, the victory is already yours. Just keep your eyes on the prize.”

As a matter of fact the theme of the book is joy despite the fact that it’s written from jail. Paul tells the Philippians, “I thank God every time I think about you.”

Sometime shortly after Paul left Philippi he was arrested & thrown in jail. When the Philippians heard that their former pastor was in prison they were understandably alarmed. How was he doing? Had he done something illegal or untoward? What’s going on with our beloved Paul?

Paul wastes no time telling his beloved Philippian congregation he’s fine. He lets them know he’s in jail for preaching the gospel. He assures them that far from hurting his ministry this jail time was going to enhance the ministry. When you start to lose steam & your perspective falters, go to Philippians & let Paul inject you with new assurance.

In some people’s minds within the Roman Empire, Jesus had been a minor player from a two-bit town on the edge of nowhere. The authorities had rubbed him out along with several other dissidents & that should have been all there was to the “Jesus matter.”

But here comes Paul, a well-known orator & he’s so in love with this Jesus he gets thrown in jail because he just won’t shut-up about Him. A lot of eyebrows were raised around the country about his zeal & willingness to risk all to keep talking about the Nazarene. What all this accomplished was to give Paul lot’s of “Meantime” & opportunities to “explain” himself, which to Paul as we know was the same thing as preaching the gospel.

IN PHILIPPIANS PAUL LETS THE GOOD NEWS ROLL

“Things haven’t turned out nearly as bad as you’d feared.” In a nutshell Paul has this attitude about his imprisonment & the causes of that imprisonment; ---he leans back against a dank dark cell wall & scratches his chin & says, “You know, the only thing that matters in all this is that it furthers the gospel.” I find that amazing!

Paul goes on; “The main thing about my story is that more & more people are hearing the gospel. This entire thing means I get to exalt Jesus. You know, I’ve always had a desire to know more about Jesus & the power of His resurrection & the fellowship of His suffering. You also know that since I met Him I’ve been doing one thing, forgetting everything in my past & stretching myself out & reaching for the things which are in my future. I’m pressing for the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Paul continues, --“don’t you good people forget to allow the peace of God which can’t even be explained to keep your hearts & minds through Christ Jesus. Think on the good things of God & don’t you spend one moment worrying about me. I can do everything I need to do through the power of Christ. And remember,

My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!!”

For most of my life I’ve been a traveling man & life on the road taught me a lot. There are some lessons we learn from this business of traveling.

OCCASIONAL DETOURS APPEAR SUDDENLY WITHOUT MUCH WARNING

The highway of life can’t always be smooth. There will be hills; there will be rough spots & detours. We don’t always have enough information to fortify us against the coming detour. In life, one day you may be well & the next day you’re lying in the hospital. One day your home is intact & the next day death has taken a loved one from you. We know we’ll have sorrow & trouble but we don’t know the moment or day they will appear.

SELDOM DO WE KNOW THE LENGTH OF THE DETOUR

Neither Joseph nor Paul knew how long they’d be detained; they just had to put it in God’s hands. When the highway sign says detour, you take it without knowing how long it’s going to be. When life’s detours appear, we don’t know how long we will have to endure, but we’re hopeful at any minute to come back to the main highway.

MOST DETOURS ARE ROUGH & WINDING

In all my travels I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a really good detour road. They always take you out of your way, delay your arrival at your destination & must always be traveled slowly & with patience.

A DETOUR CAN HAVE ITS GOOD POINTS

I’ve found that sometimes the most beautiful scenery is found on the detour road. Over hills & through valleys we see the beauties of nature unmarred by billboards telling us to eat at a certain wayside restaurant. It could very well be that your detour experience will bring you more spiritual blessings & opportunities to be a blessing than you ever thought possible.

A DETOUR ALWAYS LEADS TO AN APPRECIATION OF THE GOOD HIGHWAY

I can remember so many times being bounced around on a rugged detour road & once I was back on the smooth highway I thought,--Now this is more like it. That detour sure was a horrible experience.

Dark days help us to appreciate the bright ones, don’t you agree? People who live in Florida, including yours truly don’t really appreciate sunshine like the folk in Michigan. Sometimes I’m tempted to believe we have our own sun here in Florida.

Trouble & heartache are never enjoyable but what they do is cause us to appreciate & take full advantage of the good days the Lord gives us.

ON A DETOUR YOU MORE OR LESS DRIVE BY FAITH

A detour road is one you probably haven’t been on before so you just follow the signs which promise to bring you back to the regular road. It's here that we learn to appreciate the verse,

--And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. Roman 8:28

SOME PEOPLE TAKE THE COWARDS WAY OUT WHEN THEY SEE A DETOUR SIGN & TURN AROUND & GO BACK

You will read every now & then about someone who committed suicide because of ill health or some rough experience they were having & didn’t have the fortitude to see it through.

SOME PEOPLE GRUMBLE & COMPLAIN EVERY MILE OF THE DETOUR

When we go through things complaining & moaning the blues our situation is made worse, our troubles are intensified & we often lose the friendship, fellowship & sympathy of others.

Some folk actually think that they grumble & complain because things are bad but the truth is; things will start going bad because we grumble & complain. Witness; the Israelites in the Wilderness.

Ladies & gentlemen, we can accept our “meantime” experiences with good cheer if we do as Paul did & keep our eyes on the Lord.

Maybe your detour is one of sorrow because of the death of a loved one. Maybe you’re on the detour of ill-health & all you do lately is cry because you feel the sun has gone down for you.

Listen to the Man of Sorrows;

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also.

Listen to the words of Paul;

And lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelation, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might be taken away.

And He said, my grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ---2 Cor.12:7-9

No one is exempt from the detours & disappointments of this life. I have been disappointed many times in others & I’m sure others have been disappointed in me. I have been disappointed in the failure of my plans & I’ve been disappointed in myself.

There will be meantime & detours as long as we’re in this world. My life & yours will never be all that we’d like it to be but I can assure you this; through all our detours & side-trips we never planned on, we can be even more keenly aware of God’s mercy & grace.

Joseph learned he couldn’t rule Egypt until he first served as Potiphar’s slave but through his trials he was being trained for dominion.

For Joseph, for ancient Israel, for Paul as well as you & me, our disappointments have a redeeming feature if through them we lean more heavily on an absolutely trustworthy God whose grace & love is without boundaries, who will walk every step with us on our journey to wholeness.

Blessings,

John