God Can Use Detours to
Get You to Your Destiny
by Tony Evans
L
ife has a way of serving up a variety of
situations. Some are good. Some are bad.
And some are bitter. The difference
between a successful person living out his or her
destiny and a person aimlessly checking off each
day can often be found in how that person
views his or her life experiences. A successful
person will view his or her life experiences—the
good, the bad, and the bitter—through the lens
of purpose. Even the detours. Because what we
consider to be “detours” in our lives aren’t
always detours in God’s overarching plan.
How you manage, or mismanage, these detours, though,
will have everything to do with your future. Whatever
path you have trod, God can and will use it for good if
you will let Him—if you will learn how to move past
your past.
No story in the Bible better illustrates how God can use
detours in life to get you to your purpose than the story
of Joseph.
SPECS
Joseph was born into a dysfunctional family. His father,
Jacob, was a trickster from birth. Some of his brothers
were murderers and one had an affair with his father’s
wife. Another had an affair with his daughter-in-law. If a
reality show was made about Joseph’s family, it probably
Job #: October 14N
Job Title: October 14 Newsletter
Element: Newsletter
Designer: JW
couldn’t air during prime time. It would be too dicey
for today’s viewers.
Joseph was the eleventh son of twelve boys. His
problems began when it became known that his
father loved him the most. In the book of Genesis we
read, “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons,
because he was the son of his old age” (Genesis 37:3).
Joseph’s father didn’t hide his favoritism at all. In fact,
he broadcasted it by giving Joseph a lavish coat of
many colors.
As you might expect, this made Joseph’s brothers very
jealous. Not only that, but Joseph had a dream that he
shared with his brothers where they would one day
bow down to him. Rather than sit around and wait for
this dream to come about, the brothers decided to kill
Joseph instead.
One brother, Reuben, stood up for Joseph and
continued on next page
God Can Use
Detours to Get You
to Your Destiny!
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Joseph didn’t dwell on the detours. Rather, he was
responsible with what he had been given to do.
continued from front page
intervened. He asked his brothers to fake Joseph’s
death instead, by throwing him in a pit. The brothers
later sold Joseph to a traveling caravan as a slave.
If anyone knows what it is like to be treated unfairly,
it is Joseph. First, he was left for dead by his brothers,
lied about to his father, and then sold as a slave to
some Midianite traders. Joseph may have dragged a
grudge along with his ball and chains on his way to
his new destination.
In Egypt, though, things only get worse. As a slave to
a high official named Potiphar, God began to bless
Joseph. We read, “the Lord was with him” and “the
Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.”
(Genesis 39:3) Because of this, Joseph began to
receive favor from his overseer, which should have
seemed like a good thing. That is until he also caught
the favor and attention of his overseer’s wife. Because
Joseph was “handsome in form and appearance”
(Genesis 39:6b), it didn’t take long for Potiphar’s
wife to find a few things for Joseph to do as well,
involving her.
(Genesis 39:21). Because of this, Joseph was
promoted to a position of responsibility within the
jail. Joseph didn’t sit, soak, and sour. Rather, he got
busy doing the best he could with what he had where
he was.
When things get bitter and we feel we are on a
detour, the question that shouldn’t be asked is: Why
am I going through this? The question that should
be asked is: Lord, how do You want to use this for
my destiny?
Joseph didn’t dwell on the detours. Rather, he was
responsible with what he had been given to do. While
in the prison, a couple of his fellow inmates had
dreams. As an interpreter of dreams, Joseph told them
each the meaning of what they had seen. And he
asked one, the chief cupbearer, who had dreamed of a
positive outcome, to remember him when he finally
got out of jail.
We read, “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember
Joseph, but forgot him” (Genesis 40:23). At the point
when Joseph thought he might see a change coming,
Yet Joseph
his life got even
could not go
worse. The
through with
chief cupbearer
Your detours are simply God’s perfect plan to
the request, or
was set free. He
get you exactly where He wants you to be.
sexual advances,
was reinstated
of Potiphar’s
to his position,
wife because he
just as Joseph
knew he could not commit that sin against God. Hell
had said he would be. Yet he also forgot all about
hath no fury like a woman scorned and Potiphar’s
Joseph. That is until Pharaoh also had a dream that
wife was no exception. She quickly accused Joseph of
needed to be interpreted.
rape and had him imprisoned.
At that point the cupbearer remembered Joseph and
Being imprisoned for doing the right thing rather
called on him to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. Pharaoh
than doing the wrong thing must have been a very
was so impressed by Joseph that he said,
bitter, ugly situation. Joseph went to jail on a lie. It’s
“Since God has informed you of all this, there is
bad enough that his family messed him over, but to
no one so discerning and wise as you are. You
do an excellent job only to be lied about and sent to
shall be over my house, and according to your
prison and lose everything he had worked for could
command all my people shall do homage; only
have put a bitter taste in Joseph’s mouth.
in the throne I will be greater than you”
Yet even in jail, “the Lord was with Joseph and
(Genesis 41:39-40).
extended kindness to him, and gave him favor”
continued on back page
pg 2
1-800-800-3222
God Can Use Detours to
Get You to Your Destiny!
To thank you for your gift to The Urban Alternative this month, we’re excited to send you a copy
of Dr. Tony Evans’ brand-new sermon series: Detours to Destiny. In these eight powerful messages,
Dr. Evans explores lessons we can learn from the life of Joseph. Sermon titles include:
The Purpose of Detours
The Pattern of Detours
The Proof of Detours
The Promotion of Detours
The Detour of Providence
The Detour of Pardon
The Detour of Provision
The Detour of Perspective
We were greatly impacted when we
heard him preach these not too long ago
at church and so we wanted to make them available to you
as soon as we possibly could. Be sure to request Detours to
Destiny on the enclosed reply form when you give today.
And for your gift of $40 or more, we’ll send you Dr. Evans’ brand-new 365-day
devotional: Life Under God. Thank you for your support to help The Urban Alternative
continue to spread the teaching of truth in order to transform lives!
Woman to Woman
By Lois Evans
When the economic downturn hit our nation not
too long ago, I noticed how my calendar started to
have fewer and fewer speaking engagements on it. A
lot of churches were curtailing their events due to
the added pressure of the economy and as a result, I
had a lot more free time than normal. I had two ways
of looking at this situation. I could view it with
discouragement in that I wasn’t able to minister as
much as I wanted to. Or I could view it in that God
was clearing the channel—removing the distractions
and interruptions on the line—so that I could enjoy
sweet time in His presence. I chose to view it
through God’s perspective of His desire for me to be
close to Him.
God often uses detours in our life to point us in the
direction He wants us to go. Having the correct
perspective on life and its situations helps us to make
the most of those times rather than waste them. •
TonyEvans.org
pg 3
continued from page 2
Joseph went from behind bars to the boardroom. And in
so doing, God positioned him in a place of power over his
brothers. The same brothers who had once betrayed him
selling him to slavery later wound up standing before him
asking for food during the time of famine. Through a series
of events, his brothers ended up alone with Joseph in a
room when he decided to reveal himself to them. Then
Joseph attempted to comfort them with his wisdom. “Do
not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold
me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life”
(Genesis 45:5).
A few chapters later, Joseph delivered the greatest
statement on destiny that has ever been made when he
Dear Friend,
said, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God
meant it for good in order to bring about this present
result” (Genesis 50:20). The ugly and bitter scenario
that others intended for Joseph and that Joseph
experienced unfairly was transformed into good
when God brought about His perfect purpose.
Friend, if you have bitter things in your life—things
that look like they have diverted you onto a detour
from your destiny, they do not have the final say. They
are not the defining factors in who you are. Your
detours are simply God’s perfect plan to get you
exactly where He wants you to be. Trust Him, He
knows the way to your destiny. •
A Note from Tony
I always like to take the straightest path when I’m driving. I prefer to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. In
fact, my kids will tell you when we used to take a family vacation from Dallas to Baltimore, that I rarely even allowed
for a rest stop or bathroom break. I would try to beat my driving record each and every time.
I tell you that to say that I understand the frustration that creeps in when life puts up a detour sign. It’s bad enough to
navigate down narrow roads off of the beaten path you had chosen for your destination while driving, but when those
detours show up in life itself – disappointment often sets in.
That’s why I want to remind you about perspective. When you recognize,
understand and believe in God’s sovereign and providential hand – you won’t
view your detours through the same lens anymore. God uses detours in our lives
to get us exactly where He wants us to go. To Him – it’s not a detour at all. It
only looks like a detour to us because we can’t always see His plan. God’s ways are
not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. But His ways and His thoughts
are the best and will ultimately take us to our greatest good.
PO Box 4000
Dallas, TX 75208-0560
1-800-800-3222
TonyEvans.org
pastortonyevans
@drtonyevans
pg 4
TonyEvans.org
I hope you’ll be encouraged this month when you request the full teaching series
on the life of Joseph: Detours to Destiny. We’re happy to send it to you quickly
for your gift of any amount. And always know that I am truly grateful for your
gifts to the ministry as they go to cover airtime and production expenses in
broadcasting the teaching of God’s Word in our nation and around the world.