GOD’S DETOURS – 6 Reasons for God’s Course Corrections Sample

3. We are headed in the right direction, but we are not yet ready to get to our destination. We are not able to handle or appreciate it. We need more time to mature; more time to get equipped or developed. Sometimes the delay of the detour is for the sake of others . . . they are not yet ready for our presence or contribution.

Moses experienced a 40 year detour in the desert after killing the Egyptian. It took those 40 years for the people of Israel to cry out for God’s help and at least some of that time, for Moses to learn how to live in the desert and listen to God.

Paul was another leader who experienced detours. After his conversion, he immediately began to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus in Damascus, resulting in a death threat that prompted the believers to sneak Paul out of town. The details are sketchy, but Paul spent the following three years in the desert of Arabia. He then took a trip to Jerusalem where he was cautiously introduced to the other apostles. Once again his boldness in proclaiming the Gospel got him into physical danger. This time the disciples send him off to Tarsus, his home town, where he stays for another 14 years in obscurity. Eventually Barnabas gets Paul from Tarsus and brings him to Antioch where there is a great moving of the Spirit of God. Hardly the straight line road Paul had envisioned in those early days in Damascus.

There are several other possible reasons why Paul had a 14 year detour from sharing Christ with the world. It could have been for his development and maturity. It could have also been for the development of the church that was under the influence of Peter in Acts 10-11. What is clear is that Paul was eager to engage in his calling, but God put him on a circuitous path for several years. I can only imagine the struggle that the aggressive Paul had adjusting to being put in reserve rather than on the frontlines.

Detours can cause us to slow down and to wait for God’s timing. God’s clock doesn’t seem to run as fast as ours. I think that is why one of the most repeated phrases in the Psalms is “wait on the Lord.” In Isaiah 40, the prophet emphasized the benefits of doing so!