By Andrew Williams
Romans 15:24-25 “I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey. But before I come, I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the believers there.”
Good morning fellow disciples.
How do you feel when you have to make detours on your journey?
Detour: to avoid by going around, or a deviation from a direct course or the usual procedure.
The Apostle Paul is one of the greatest apostles the world has ever known. He evangelized and made disciples in places where no one else did before. After evangelizing these places, he really wanted to go to Rome to do the work that God had called him to do there.
He was making plans to go to Rome, but then he decided to go to the Passover in Jerusalem. It was his intention to go to Rome afterward, but little did he know that his journey would suffer a big detour.
That detour came in the form of imprisonment. He was incarcerated for many years before he went to Rome as a prisoner, and he remained in prison there until his death.
How do you cope with the detours in your life?
Do you become irate, combative, complain, or accept them as a necessary evil? Do you try to make the best of your time spent on your detour? Do you use that time to spend more time with God or with the persons that you’re traveling with? If you meet new people along the way, do you introduce them to God or bring the joy of the Lord to them?
Sometimes a detour gives us the opportunity to impact the lives of many, many persons. Sometimes when we avoid persons or places by using an alternate route, we end up saving not only our lives, but the lives of others as well.
Don’t lose sight of your purpose in life because of detours.
Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for the detours in my life. I wouldn’t be the person that I am today without them. Thank You for the people that I have met on the way, and the calamities that I have avoided because of these detours. Help me to use every opportunity to evangelize and make disciples along the way. Amen.