God Uses Our "Inconveniences" To Accomplish His Will

Have we ever been stuck in an foreign airport four thousand miles from home due to flight delays caused by inclement weather? While most of us would find such an inconvenience intolerable, one man experienced God’s providence in his delay. As he waited out his forced stay, he looked for opportunities to connect with his fellow stranded passengers, instead of just staring at the walls.

He found some fellow Christians from India. In speaking with them, he found out about a ministry they were involved in that was similar to his. As a result of his interaction with them, they invited him to India to participate in a short-term missionary effort to teach in a Bible school.

How often do we experience delays, changes of plans, and redirections and treat them as intrusions? It is a high possibility that God may be detouring us so we can do something different or new for Him.

Consider Paul’s trip to Philippi in Acts 16. He had gone to Macedonia because of a God-directed vision (Acts 16:9-10). How could he know that he would end up in prison there? Through God’s providence, He used Paul to bring salvation to a jailer and his family (Acts 16:25-34).

Beloved, God can (and does) use the seemingly “inconveniences” in our lives to accomplish His will.

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets