I’m not a big fan of detours. I love the geometry axiom, “The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.” But life is rarely a straight line to a specific goal or desired destination. And sometimes when we set out to reach a goal, we don’t always achieve what we want, but we probably gain some massive wisdom from the journey and pursuit.
We see lots of examples of this concept throughout the Bible. For example, in reading about Jacob in the book of Genesis, we know that he was the younger twin to Esau, and he was always striving to be equal to or better than his older brother. You can see this in his duplicity to gain his father’s blessing in chapter 27, along with his crafty ploy to gain his brother’s birthright in chapter 25.
Jacob’s efforts to be equal to or better than Esau resulted in Jacob running for his life and landing at his uncle’s house. After about twenty years, Jacob and Esau met up and found some reconciliation and mutual acceptance. During this meetup, if we inventory Jacob’s life at this time, we see that he has become a very wealthy man with a well-established family (two wives, multiple sons and servants) and great practical-living skills. Jacob achieved his goals, but this happened over the course of much time, with lots of detours and a very circuitous route.
If you look at the route Jacob traveled to get to these outcomes, you’ll see his many hardships and detours. Living with his uncle, Laban, was a significant detour from being equal to his brother and acquiring personal wealth and position. Although this wasn’t a great situation for Jacob, he put down his roots and endeavored to be productive and value-added in his living arrangement. In this detour, Jacob chose to work hard and flourish.
In relation to setting up his family, Jacob agreed to work for seven years to marry Rachel. There was a detour to this plan because Laban tricked Jacob into marrying Leah who was Rachel’s sister and not nearly as pretty as her sister. Ultimately, Jacob married both sisters, and through them and their handmaidens, he had at least thirteen kids. The detour ultimately facilitated Jacob having a very large family.
As for Jacob’s employment, when he arrived at Laban’s house, he immediately settled into working for his uncle. He was a hard worker and grew Laban’s wealth significantly. After some years, an agreement was made between Laban and Jacob whereby Jacob began to build his own wealth. Consider reading Genesis 30:27-34 and the discussion between Jacob and Laban about Jacob’s payment.
Finally, when Jacob decided to move back to his homeland, there was considerable angst with him, Laban and Laban’s sons. It was such a heated situation that Laban chased Jacob down, scoured his possessions and confronted Jacob about some possible thievery. It’s very insightful to look at Jacob’s reply to Laban, which we read in Genesis 31:36-42. At the end of Jacob’s answer to Laban’s hostilities, Jacob acknowledges that God was his protector and provider for all the years that Jacob worked for Laban. Despite many detours, setbacks, hardships and struggles, Jacob was clear that God was looking out for him and helping him along his challenging journey.
Looking at Jacob’s circuitous route to get to his goals, we can learn some important lessons. For starters, it’s essential that we keep our focus on God more than our circumstances, hardships, people challenges, uncertainties, etc. Additionally, whatever situations we find ourselves in, let’s work hard and add value wherever we are. Finally, coming back to the first point, let’s keep our eyes on God. Jacob was clear that God was looking after him no matter what—we would be wise to keep the same mindset concerning detours we’ll make in our own life!
