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

While Joseph was locked up in prison, Pharaoh was dreaming in the palace. It wasn’t a good dream, though. In fact, it was a dream that caused Pharaoh a lot of concern. So much so that he called for his magicians and all of his wise men to come interpret his dreams. But despite all his or her efforts, there was no one who could do so successfully. God didn’t allow human wisdom to bring the answer to the problem. He providentially thwarted the normal processes for Pharaoh’s dream interpretations because God had a job for Joe. God had someone especially created and designed for just a purpose like this. In fact, interpreting the dream was only a step toward the purpose God had for Joseph.

While Joseph sat yet another day in the jail, the wisdom of the wisest men in Egypt fell short—leaving Pharaoh at a loss for what to do next. That is, until the cupbearer spoke up. He said,

Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guard. He and I had dreams on the same night; each dream had its own meaning. Now a young Hebrew, a slave of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, he interpreted our dreams for us, and each had its own interpretation. It turned out just the way he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.” (Gen. 41:9–13)

A lightbulb came on in the cupbearer’s mind when Pharaoh’s men couldn’t interpret his dream. Something triggered a reminder to his own situation and the man he met in the jail, the slave. Without hesitation, Pharaoh quickly summoned for Joseph to interpret his dream. He didn’t need to be told twice that there was a man who could help him. A knock came on Joseph’s cell door. It opened to the light. And just as suddenly as he had been tossed into it, he was pulled out.

What happened that day is providence.

Some of you may call that luck, chance, or happenstance. Maybe there are a few reading this who may even call it fate. But as a believer in God, none of those words should even be in your vocabulary. What happened that day is providence.

Providence is the hand of God moving in the glove of history—giving a dream, having set up the dream-reader, and reminding the cupbearer about his connection from years ago. Now Pharaoh wants to meet a man he’s never known and trust this man with the most delicate thoughts in his mind and heart . . . all because God is a God of time and the maneuvering of circumstances.

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.