Sessions Include:

Detours, Lesson #1
Purpose and Pain

Detours, Lesson #2
Pattern and Purifying

Detours, Lesson #3
Proof and Presence

Detours, Lesson #4
Promotion and Plan

Detours, Lesson #5
Pardon and Pleasure

Detours, Lesson #6
Providence and Perfection

Detours, Lesson #7
Perspective and Peace

In the last chapter we looked at one way to discover if you are on a God-inspired detour or simply going through the consequences of bad choices. We saw how suffering for doing what is right is often a way God tests us. Joseph wound up in jail because he refused to dishonor God by accepting the advances of Potiphar’s wife.

Another way you can discern you are on a detour designed by God is that in the midst of your suffering for doing good, God shows you His presence. He shows you His favor. God joins you in the pit.

God didn’t keep Daniel from the lions’ den; He met him in it.

He didn’t keep Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace; He joined them in it.

He didn’t keep Joseph from being a slave to Potiphar; He gave him favor in it—to the point that Joseph wound up with authority over Potiphar’s home and all his possessions. Later, when Joseph was tossed onto another detour into prison, God went to the prison with him as well. It says in Genesis 39:21, “But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.”

The second proof for knowing you are where God wants you to be in your detour is that God doesn’t deliver you from it but rather joins you in it. I know you may be praying, like Joseph may have himself, “Lord, get me out of this jail. Get me out of this detour!” But it may not be the right time to get you out. So if God is not ready to deliver you from it, look for Him in it.

Do you see His hand of favor on you? Do you see Him giving you favor to others around you? Can you experience His presence with you? Are you open to looking for it?

Look for Him to give you light in the midst of the darkness.

I recently spent some time with a large group of singles when they had an evening of fellowship on our church campus. I shared with them what Joseph’s secret was in being a successful single the years that he was. This secret is recorded for us in the book of Acts. We read, “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him” (Acts 7:9). Joseph’s success was that God was with him. He was with him in the pit, in Potiphar’s house, and even in the prison.

The key to victory in whatever situation you are facing is not first where you are or what you are going through but rather who is with you while you’re there. In prison, “the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him.” We see how God’s presence and kindness showed up in the next few verses, “The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph’s authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there. The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him, and the LORD made everything that he did successful” (Gen. 39:22–23).

Joseph got a promotion in jail. God didn’t change the situation—Joseph was still in jail. But in the detour God promoted him.

The way God shows up isn’t always by delivering you from something—sometimes it is delivering you in it. If God is granting you favor in the midst of a trial, test, or detour, that may be a hint that He isn’t ready to deliver you from that detour just yet. You may be wondering how to tell if it really is God and not just circumstances. Let’s look at a pattern God often uses. If you’ll remember when Joseph was a slave in Potiphar’s house, Potiphar promoted him to make him head over everything. It says, “The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made everything he did successful, Joseph found favor in his master’s sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority” (vv. 2–4).

Later when Joseph languished in jail, the same thing happened. The jailer took notice of him and, again, put him in charge. God showed up, not once, but twice in a similar way. Scripture often says that by “two or three witnesses” a matter will be confirmed.

When the Lord shows up twice in your life in a similar fashion, pay attention! He is talking. It’s not bad luck. It’s not good luck. It’s not chance. It is God confirming He is doing this on purpose because He is giving you a double witness.

Tony Evans, Detours: The Unpredictable Path to Your Destiny (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2017), 1–4.

We have just completed a Bible study to guide your group into meditating on and applying these truths. Detours is our Bible Study based on Dane Ortlund's book by the same name. It consists of 7 lessons with ready-to-use questions suitable for groups. It can be purchased on Amazon and is also available as part of Good Questions Have Groups Talking Subscription Service.