God does not live in time or space. To God, today is in the same time zone as ten years ago. It’s also in the same time zone as ten years ahead. To God, our destiny plays out simultaneously wherever we are. Whether we are in a preparation stage of destiny, a connection and networking stage of destiny, or simply a waiting stage of destiny – God’s purpose for our lives is always a current purpose. It’s a right now destiny.
Yet, too many believers lose both contentment and gratitude for the place they are right now because they are always waiting for something greater. They are always looking ahead to achieve their destiny. Rather than realizing, as a child of God, your destiny is in you now, simply unfurling into its complete manifestation someday. Honor each moment, each job, each person with the knowledge that destiny lives in you now, perhaps in seed form – but each step, each day, each moment, each lesson, and each interaction play a part in the roadmap of your life.
When you’re driving, you don’t simply arrive at your destination. If you look disdainfully on the road you take – thinking only of the destination – you may never get there. If you refuse to drive on the two-lane country road, you’ll never reach your final location. Destiny is a mindset that allows you to embrace and maximize the power of where you are right now as you look forward to a greater release of your purpose, influence, and impact in the future.
When you learn how to focus on your relationship with God in any and every situation you are in, you put less pressure on the situation – whether that’s a job, relationship, hobby, etc. – to be everything for you. Joseph was just a slave in a house, but God was with him and gave him favor. Be careful not to complain about where you are because when you honor God and your relationship with God in it, He has a way of giving you favor in situations you never imagined.
God cares more for the development of the dreamer than the actual dream itself. He cares more for your personal growth than your final destination. Because if you are not developed or matured, you will ultimately mess up the dream and final destination when you get there. Most of us have dreams. But God wants to make sure you have the strength in your shoulders to bear the weight of that dream once you get there. He doesn’t want you to collapse underneath a pile of purpose. Detours are designed to develop that. They are designed to strengthen the muscles of contentment, gratitude, faith, love, humility, and obedience.
Watch Dr. Tony Evans this Monday on LIFE TODAY. Excerpted from Detours by Tony Evans. Copyright ©2017 by Tony Evans. Published by B&H Publishing Group. Used by permission.
