Have you ever been on your way somewhere, totally excited, and then—BAM!—there’s a detour? All of sudden, you’re going the long way around. That can be so frustrating, especially when you want to get to where you’re going! But usually, that detour is protecting you from something bad up ahead.

That’s exactly what happened to the Israelites when God led them out of Egypt! God had just miraculously set them free from hundreds of years of slavery (what an amazing day that must have been)! The quickest road to the land God had promised them was a well-traveled route. But that road went straight through the territory of the powerful and dangerous Philistines, and God knew that if the Israelites went that way, they would be attacked.

So God sent them on the longer route through the desert. Was it comfortable or easy? No way! Did it make sense to them? Nope! Here’s the most interesting part...the Bible never says God told them He was protecting them by sending them the long way. They just had to trust Him, even without understanding why.

Does that sound familiar? When something doesn’t go your way, or when plans fall apart, or when something disappoints you and you can’t figure out why God would let that happen...maybe, just maybe, He’s protecting you from something you can’t even see yet. The detour isn’t a mistake. It’s God at work!

Think About It: Can you think of a time when something that seemed disappointing or frustrating actually turned out to be good in the end? Thank God right now for the ways He protects you, even when you don’t realize it’s happening! And the next time a “detour” shows up in your life, ask God: “What are You protecting me from?”