“You are exactly where you are supposed to be when it looks like God has you on the precipice of disaster.”- Dr. Tony Evans
“He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”- 2 Corinthians 1:4
Dr. Tony Evans concludes Chapter 6 of Detours as he discusses the third and fourth ways to discern you’re on a God-designed detour.
3. God gives you a ministry to others going through the same or similar thing you are. When you’re suffering, the normal tendency = self-absorption. As a result, you spend all your emotional energy nursing your own wounds. Like Joseph, you need to learn to look beyond your own misery. Next, discern ways for you to minister to others.
Therefore, minister in the midst of waiting- during a delay in your detour. As a result, that prepares you for promotion to God’s ultimate kingdom assignment. As Tony summarizes: “You rarely find someone alone on a detour. Typically, there is a long line of cars being rerouted and moving slowly.”
4. God postpones your release. Dr. Evans describes this proof of a God-designed detour as the most discouraging of the four. Yet, Tony affirms, God’s specific reason for the delay- “to show His hand all the more powerful and to deepen our faith.”
As you face another delay, it’s easy to give up when it looks like God’s “slammed the door of opportunity and deliverance in your face.” However, Dr. Evans exhorts you to remember this. A delay doesn’t equate with a denial.
Therefore, God continues to prepare your destiny for you and you for your destiny. This fulfills His greater kingdom purposes. Dr. Evans concludes:
“But when you reach your destiny . . . you will look back with wonder and exclaim that God was tight, and even kind, all along.”
Today’s question: Do you currently find yourself on the precipice of disaster? Please share.
Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation- “Lost in a sea of faces?”
Tomorrow’s blog: “When your preparation meets God’s purpose”
