JANUARY 20: “NAVIGATING DETOURS”

Detours are sudden redirections of our route. Detours are the unplanned moments in life when something or someone throws us off our intended course. Life is full of surprises. However, these surprises have the potential to cause us to take a detour on a different route than expected to get to our intended destination.

In our text for today, there was a sudden “famine” that changed the path of the life of Abraham and his family. Detours come in many different shapes and sizes, but all of them share one thing in common – we did not see them coming. They catch us off guard, leaving us frustrated, confused, curious, and even heart-broken.

Verse 10 opens the passage simply enough. “Now there was a famine in the land.” We would think Abram’s obedience would be rewarded with favor in the land. He would arrive at fertile fields, much food and water, easy passage and a comfortable dwelling. However, that was not so. In the life of faith, it rarely is. Faith is not about what we deserve. Faith is about trusting God. We cannot call faith that which we do only for a meager earthly reward. We call faith that which trusts God in the famine for an eternal reward to come.

As we journey today, let us remember that famine led Abram far from God, but it was not the famine’s fault. It was what he did during the famine that mattered most. So, it is with us all. When faced with trials, the question is not, “Is God faithful?” The question is, “Will I trust him?” In which chair will I sit when everything is on the line: the chair of faith or lack of faith, doubt? Misalignment happens, but God restores when we return.

PRAYER: Our Father, forgive us for our sin of allowing the detours of life to take us far away from you. Help us to stay faithful even when the detour of life happens in Jesus’ name, Amen.