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)
