“How I thought God would do it and how He actually did it were worlds apart.” If you have followed Jesus any measure of time, you can relate to this common saying. We’ve all experienced our lives taking unexpected detours. Yet, God’s ways are much higher (Isaiah 55:8-9), and many of these ‘detours’ are Him preserving the promises He has spoken to us.

This biblical principle is clear in the life of Jesus, starting during His early years.

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you … .” … an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel … .” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel … . Having been warned in a dream…he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. (Matthew 2:13,19-23, NIV)

I think it’s safe to assume the first few years of Jesus’ life turned out much differently than Mary and Joseph anticipated: from Israel to Egypt (to keep Jesus safe from Herod), back to Israel, then detoured away from Judea to Nazareth. However, this rerouting was God’s perfect road map to fulfill what had been promised about the coming Messiah.

God’s directions rarely follow what we think will be a straight line.

My wife and I can attest to this as we recently experienced one of His promises fulfilled after 22 years. How we thought He would bring it to pass was light-years away from how He actually did!

The Lord had caught me off-guard by prompting me to take a large financial step, promising I would see it paid off. Seven years later, God sent us on a major detour—He led my wife and me to take the same step again even though the previous money wasn’t paid off. (Don’t get me wrong, the Bible is clear that we are supposed to avoid debt, if possible. It would have been foolish for us to have made those financial moves if He wasn’t leading!)

As you can imagine, interest greatly compounded during those years. My wife and I were able to make very little headway in paying down what was owed. Many times, I wondered if I had detoured away from how God had planned to pay it off. Had our unbelief thwarted what He intended? I would be lying if I said the debt had not at times been a source of depression.

A couple of years ago God sent someone with the knowledge of how the balance could be completely paid off. I can’t begin to convey the emotions my wife and I felt when seeing the balance at zero after it had been massive for so many years. God had fulfilled the promise He had spoken, although many unexpected turns over those 20 years had caused us to think we had missed His plan.

Are there promises in your life that you have been trusting God for extended periods of time to see fulfilled? God is entirely faithful through all of life’s twists and turns. As we see in the life of Jesus, His ways may appear to include extreme measures. Thankfully, what may seem like detours to us fit within His ability to work it all for your good. (Romans 8:28)

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Scripture is quoted from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION^®, NIV^® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.^® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.