God’s Positioning System Welcomes Detours

(Review of Detour by Tony Evans)

Detour.  The word reminds you of time wasted.  And fuel, if you are driving. Tony Evans explains how spiritual life detours may be time best spent. And energizing to your soul.  The divine GPS finds detours when we don’t think they are necessary.

Evans defines the human condition. “There’s a plotnessness that exists in many lives today. Often we move from one scene, one circumstance, to the next without purpose. We wander from high school to college, from college to our first job. Then we’re just dying to have kids. Next we’re dying to get them out of the house. Then we’re dying to retire, only to find out that we’re just dying-never having known why we were alive in the first place.” A God-ordained destiny awaits but we miss it.

Joseph, the familiar patriarch of Israel, had a world-changing destiny he could not achieve without taking detours.  Evans helps us understand why God brings detours into our life with episodes from Joseph’s life.  It is remarkable how many similarities exist between this man of history and men of the present.  “God knows the wisdom of detours and so He uses them frequently on our behalf, forcing us down a path that is ultimately wiser-although at the time it may not appear that way.” 

The language is simple and the well-placed illustrations are germane.  The illustrations deepen the meaning of the stories. 

Each chapter title utilizes a ‘P’ word which often appears contrived. 

The chapter on God’s providence clarifies that complicated issue.  

The book will be of use to those who wonder how their current situation could be beneficial.  And all who know someone who seems to be wandering aimlessly. “You rarely find someone alone on a detour.”