Detours Require Perspective
My family loves a good road trip. We don’t mind loading up in the car and driving two or three hours just to get some really good ice cream, visit a unique state park, or just go somewhere we have not been before. I think I learned this love for the random road trip from my parents. It was not uncommon that if my parents were bored, they would declare, “Let’s go for a drive!” Often these drives would end up at an ice cream shop or just take us meandering out to places that I had never seen before.
However, there is one thing that can kill a good road trip. Detours.
Two summers ago, we had a multipart Iowa road trip planned for our summer vacation. We had stops planned in West Bend to see the Grotto of the Redemption, next to Okoboji for a few days of camping, then out through Orange City, and down to Omaha via the Loess Hills scenic byway. Everything was going to plan, and the first five days of the week were great. We packed up camp in Okoboji and started heading towards our destination in Omaha, the Magnolia Hotel. Now, there were faster ways to get there, but the Loess Hills are a natural beauty that only occurs in a few places in the world, western Iowa being one of them. But, we hit a detour just west of Orange City, which took us south of where we needed to pick up the scenic byway. Initially, I was composed and attempted to reroute us back to the original plan. But it was futile, and we were forced back on to the detour in another location. In the end, I was frustrated and irritated that we were on a six-lane highway instead of the scenic byway. Yes, we made it to the Magnolia Hotel in Omaha, and we were even able to catch the tail end of the scenic byway. But, our plan didn’t go to plan because of a detour that was out of our control.
Here is the thing about a detour, it is rarely ever part of the plan… otherwise, it wouldn’t be a detour! And that day in western Iowa reminded me of a powerful truth when a detour is met with perspective; it prevents the detour from being destructive. Yes, it is still irritating, inconvenient, and even painful sometimes. But, with a little perspective, it doesn’t have to derail or destroy the bigger picture. It might even contain a gift that we would have otherwise missed if the plan had gone to plan.
Sitting here today and reflecting on that trip, it strikes me that detours happen in our lives for three reasons.
- Our sin and poor choices. – We make a choice that takes us off the planned road, and all of a sudden, we are faced with a detour.
- The sin and poor choices of others. – Too often, the sinful choices and brokenness of others can detour our lives.
- The brokenness of the world. – The physical world around us is broken by our sin, and our lives can be detoured by storms, recessions, droughts, etc.
In Acts 28:1-10, Paul is on his way to Rome when the brokenness of the world is compounded by the poor choices of others, and he faces a detour to the island of Malta. We will see that with a little perspective, this detour doesn’t end in destruction. Instead, in God’s grace, this detour will become a divine appointment for Paul and those he comes in contact with.