Have you ever been stuck in an airport? For 24 hours? In a city where
you can’t speak the language? Four thousand miles from home?
It happened to a friend recently, and we can learn from his response. While
most of us would find such an inconvenience intolerable, my friend John saw
God’s hand in his delay. As he waited out his forced stay, he looked for
opportunities to connect with fellow passengers. He “happened” to find some
fellow Christians from India—and in talking to them he heard about a ministry
they were involved with. In fact, because John’s interests matched his new
friends’ ministry, they invited him to India to participate in a short-term
project.
How often do we experience delays, changes of plans, and redirections
and treat them as intrusions? It could be that God is detouring us so we can do
something different or new for Him. Consider Paul’s trip to Philippi in Acts
16. He had gone to Macedonia because of a God-directed vision (vv.9-10). How
could he know that he would end up in prison there? But even that trip to jail
was God-led, because He used Paul to bring salvation to a jailer and his family
(vv.25-34).
God can use inconveniences in our lives if we look at them as divine
appointments.
God can turn obstacles into opportunities. (RBC)
