Detours

             I have asked myself over the past month, why certain events took place in such a way as they did. I have not had a particularly close relationship with the local VA hospital, but suddenly found myself in their Emergency Room and then and eventually 4 day visit in the hospital itself. I found myself facing some serious decisions in regard to my foot but also an unusual event that took place in Sunday evening. I was scheduled to have an MRI on Monday that would determine the decision in regard to my foot to amputate or not. I woke up on Monday morning with the MRI canceled and a quick kidney ultrasound and then discharged by noon. No explanation was offered and I didn't ask any questions. There was however, an unusual event that took place on Sunday evening when a patient was admitted to my room. His condition was serious and cardiac related. It was determined that the VA couldn't help him and so he would be transferred immediately to another local hospital. Our lives intersected for only 90 minutes and during that time the Lord impressed upon me to have prayer for him which we did. Since our beds were about 20 feet apart, I had to muster up enough of a voice for him to hear me. Perhaps that was why I was there in the first place. Acts 8:26 says, "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.” 

           The Bible often contains examples of people being transferred from one place to another. Some of these events were miraculous while others were normal but directed by God for an individual to go from one place to another. Philip the Evangelist had both types of experiences in his life. In the above passage, we find that Philip is impressed by an angel speaking to him to go from Samaria down to Gaza to speak to one man. Philip, at that time, was in a very successful and rewarding ministry in Samaria, but still, he obeyed the leading of God and went down to a place in Gaza to find the Ethiopian eunuch in a chariot reading from the book of Isaiah. The man was reading chapter 53 and it is no wonder then that Philip took that passage and preached unto him, Jesus. It is always amazing to me how God can change my path and my plans on any given day by simply placing a detour sign somewhere in my road. I could be a physical sign of a detour or even a phone call or a request that was not planned to place you in a place where you didn't expect to be. It could be that you have been placed there to make a comment about how God has worked in your life, or even to give a smile or a word of encouragement to someone who desperately needs it. It could be a simple act of kindness that God wants you to do at that moment. Our lives are filled with detours as God moves us from one place to another. We may think that we may have our lives all planned out but the Master Planner often has a different course planned for the day or even the year. Where will God have you to go today and whose lives will be changed by your presence? Praise God that He is still directing traffic in our lives.