Chapter Four

The Purifying of Detours

God has established patterns that pop up in people’s lives when it comes to detours. These patterns often exist because a goal is being sought. Detours frequently provide the ground for development. There would be nothing worse than arriving at your destiny unprepared to fully carry it out. It’s like the people who win the lottery only to lose their millions within a few years because they were unprepared for the responsibilities that come with that much money.

Another aspect I want us to look at with regard to patterns of detours is training. We are told in Scripture to learn from being tested so essentially testing, trials, and detours are places where we are trained. Like an athlete in the gym preparing for the field, this is the place where muscle strength and reflexes are sharpened. Otherwise, the athlete gets to the field and cannot perform up to the level required to win.

First of all, there is a phrase we see pop up a lot with regard to Joseph’s life. That phrase is, “And the Lord was with Joseph.”

Over and over we see these words. Whether Joseph was in the pit, the prison, or the palace—the Lord was with him. Not only that, but we also see God’s hand of favor with him causing whatever he touched to prosper and causing people to put things under his authority.

One thing to learn from God being with Joseph is that Joseph was also with God. In other words, Joseph did not allow the circumstances to compromise his spiritual relationship. Yes, it is easy to get mad at God when you face a trial or trouble in your life. But these are the times when you are to chase after God like you’ve never done before. These are the times when you are to draw near to Him.

When you fill a sponge full of water and then you add pressure to the sponge, water is going to flow out because it is full of water. When you are going through a trial and you feel the pressure of life caving in around you, how much of God comes out?

Or is it cussing, fussing, complaining, and blaming that comes out instead? Why are those things coming out? Because that is what you are full of.

A sponge only lets out what is in it. God was able to give Joseph favor because God was in Joseph during his trials.

This is important to know because God will do the same with and for you if you let Him. But so few people do. Most people fill themselves with entertainment, alcohol, gossip, distractions, bitterness, and things of that nature when life is not fair. But in order to have your detour take you to your destiny, you have to draw near to God. God will be near to, and in, you.

Joseph had cultivated a spiritual relationship along the way of his detours, as his priority became God. The key to making it during your season of testing is not found in your contacts, notoriety, name, or bank account. The key is found in your intimacy with the Lord. The Lord was with Joseph—and caused all that he did, no matter where he was, to prosper. There must be a spiritual relationship that drives you, particularly when life has gone left.

One of the purposes of a detour is to develop the capacity, skills, and character necessary to carry out your destiny. While Joseph was a slave in Potiphar’s home, the Lord prospered him so that he became second-in-command in Potiphar’s home. Little did he know that one day he would become second-in-command in the entire nation of Egypt. But God was preparing Joseph with the skills necessary to both follow and lead simultaneously. Joseph doesn’t yet have the details of his destiny, but his obedience as a slave gave him the opportunity to learn skills he would use later on as a ruler.

Joseph acquired experience in leadership, management, problem-solving, and more. One of the problems we have today in our culture is that people want what they want right now. But if you can’t handle where you are now, how will you handle more responsibility later? Scripture asks us in Jeremiah 12:5, “If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?”

I always get a kick out of young pastors who ask me how they can get where I am now in ministry. Sometimes they have just graduated from seminary or Bible college, and they schedule a meeting with me to see if I can give them advice so that they might also gain a megachurch of our size or impact. I usually lean back in my chair, smile, and then say something similar to, “Go preach in a prison.”

Without exception a look of, “You are kidding me, right?” comes over their faces. But it’s the truth. It’s the best advice I can give them. I didn’t start out with a ten-thousand-member church or my messages being broadcast in two hundred countries and all over the United States. I started out on top of the bed of a pickup truck with no microphone, simply yelling as loud as I could to whoever was around. I started out on the corner where buses would come to pick up passengers, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (the only sermon I knew at the time). I started out in prison chapels. I preached in family rooms. I managed a staff of mostly family members and a congregation of the same when I first started out.

Training for greater things always takes place in lesser things. Be faithful, responsible, and content where you are now. That is one of the major secrets to God taking you further and giving you more.

Training for greater things always takes place in lesser things.

God will not give you your destiny until you are ready to handle your destiny well. How can you take care of your destiny there if you are not yet taking care of the destiny He has you in right here? You have to get enough experience first with the “this” you are in now before He gives you the “that” you are hoping for.

As a pastor, I am privy to a lot of complaints. One that I frequently hear is how hard it is as a Christian to work well in a non-Christian (secular) environment. Maybe the boss is not Christian, or the atmosphere is not Christian, but as we see from the life of Joseph—God was with Joseph where Joseph was. Joseph worked in a non-Christian environment. Potiphar was a pagan; he was not a believer. Joseph worked for a non-Christian company. But God blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph.

As a believer, you should be the best employee, the most on-time employee, the most productive employee because the Lord is with you. Your relationship with God should bring favor to those around you due to your integrity, honesty, morality—not theirs. You should stand out as Joseph stood out—wherever you are. Let those around you see Jesus in you, not just hear you talk about your morals and your beliefs.

The best witness often comes from behavior, not words. In Genesis 39:3–4 we read, “When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful, Joseph found favor in his master’s sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority.”

The Bible doesn’t say that the master heard Joseph running his mouth all day long talking about his God while getting nothing done. Joseph didn’t turn in sloppy work, complaining that he didn’t really agree with the values set forth by the company anyhow. No, the master saw that the Lord was with Joseph and that the Lord caused all Joseph did to prosper. In business, that’s the bottom line. Move the bottom line up and you get the attention of those in charge. It’s difficult to argue with the bottom line. It’s difficult to not be promoted when it is evident that God is with you and prospering all you do. This also means Joseph was not silent about his faith. He had made it clear to Potiphar that his attitudes, actions, and work ethic were tied directly to his relationship with God.

When I was only a teenager, I went to work as a dishwasher in a catering service. My job was to wash dishes. It wasn’t that difficult. I was to wash the dirty dishes that came into the kitchen—and wash them by hand. The owner of the catering service was a business-minded Jewish man who juggled multiple balls in the air and wore multiple hats. From time to time, he would come into the area where I worked to check on things. I always greeted him warmly and asked if he had anything more for me to do, seeing as I stayed on top of my job and always finished it early.

Over time, he took notice of my work and eventually asked me to become his personal driver, as well as the driver for his kids to all of their weekend activities. He promoted me.

Over the next few years of taking good care of his kids, we developed a relationship. He saw potential in me and pulled me aside one day to offer to pay my way to go to college for the first year. He wanted to invest in my personal development and thought this was the best way to do that.

We didn’t share the same religion. I went away to a Christian college. But God used this man to promote me in my life to a position where I would later be used by Him to minister to so many people, in so many ways.

Friend, always—always—always be faithful where you are. Be diligent, even if you are just washing dishes. Or just driving a car full of some kids to a sporting event. You never know what God is going to use in someone else’s mind and heart to move you further ahead into your destiny.

Joseph’s job at Potiphar’s house was not his ultimate destiny. It was a stepping-stone to his ultimate destiny. It was his preparation point to promotion. But since he approached it as if it were his destiny—he worked hard, received favor, managed well—the Lord used it for His purpose. Far too often, we are chasing our destiny so much that we forget to maximize the location where we are right now.

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 road map of your life.

When you are driving, you don’t simply arrive at your destination. If you were to 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 will never reach your final location. Destiny is a mind-set 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 even 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 muscles of contentment, gratitude, faith, love, humility, and obedience.

Temptation

Another pattern on detours that people often run into is the pattern of temptation. Joseph faced a test. He faced training. But he also faced temptation—a solicitation to do evil and disobey God.

Keep in mind, temptation itself is not sin. Being tempted is not the same as sinning. Sinning is when you yield to the temptation. Satan uses temptation to move us away from the will of God. He offers the down payment of pleasure, numbing pain, or distraction so that he can come back later for full payment with interest.

The Lord sent Joseph to Potiphar’s house on a detour. He also knew that Mrs. Potiphar was going to be there as well. We are told in the passage that Joseph was a modern-day superstar in looks and build. He was handsome in both form and appearance. He had six-pack abs. He was a beast, eye candy for the ladies. After enough eye candy, Mrs. Potiphar decided she wanted more than just something to look at. So she made an advance at Joseph, inviting him to become intimate with her.

But Joseph refused to have relations with Mrs. Potiphar out of honor and respect for his master, Mr. Potiphar. He also refused out of honor and obedience to God. We read, “No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). Joseph saw sin as a relational issue. He realized he had a master on the earth as well as one in heaven, causing him to run even though it meant leaving valuables behind.

Mrs. Potiphar didn’t take no for an answer. Scripture tells us that day after day she continued to flirt, continued to make her proposition, continued to put pressure on him to give in to what she wanted. Eventually his rejection left her annoyed, irritated, and humiliated to the point that she accused him of the very thing he did not do. She accused him of rape. They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Joseph had not given in because of his love for God. He valued his relationship with God more than he valued momentary pleasure. It wasn’t easy, I’m sure. But it was the right decision. Joseph demonstrated he could be trusted under pressure. A right decision that subsequently landed him in another pit—this time a prison. Have you ever made a right decision only to later feel you are being punished for doing just that? Little did Joseph know that he needed to be in the prison in order to one day wind up standing before Pharaoh in a time of need. It must have seemed confusing and contradictory to obey God and have God seemingly punish you by tossing you in prison. But that’s what detours do—they sometimes confuse us. They sometimes cause us to question and to doubt. They sometimes look irrational and illogical.

This is because we cannot see where the detour is taking us. We can only see the pit and the problems.

Detours involve negative experiences that God either creates or allows. Never mistake the hand of God for the hand of man or for the hand of Satan. While Satan uses temptations to derail us from our destiny, God uses those same temptations to detour us to our destiny. Our responsibility is not to yield. Joseph could have easily believed that Mrs. Potiphar landed him in jail. But God simply used her to put him in the place He needed him to be. That’s why forgiveness is such a critical part of reaching the full manifestation of your destiny. Because if you harbor bitterness toward those God used to move you further along in life—through negative realities—you are not seeing fully. You are not seeing how God used them to push you ahead to a place you probably would have never gone on your own.

I can guarantee you that Joseph would have never decided to request a transfer to prison. He would have never gone to Mr. Potiphar, thanked him for the job, and asked to be moved to a prison instead.

But that is where God needed him to be in order to be in position for his greater destiny and kingdom purpose.

Many times, negative realities in our lives have a way of pushing us into situations and locations we would never have gone had we not been nudged. So be careful if you harbor bitterness to those who have hurt you. Consider how God may be using them to develop you, move you, and position you for your greatest promotion yet. God loves you enough to develop you for where He is taking you. Say “no” to that which breaks His heart—temptation. But realize that you saying “no” may not immediately bring you reward. You will need to be patient for that to come.

Let go of any grudge you have toward someone who has offended you, accused you, or moved you into a place you did not want to go. And let God show you why it happened and what He is doing through it. When you do, you will discover the purifying grace of acceptance and the power of peace in living out your destiny both now and in the future.