When the Promise Takes A Detour

Trusting God When Life Falls Apart

Have you ever had a moment where it felt like everything was falling apart? Like the dream the God put in your heart was slipping through your fingers? Maybe it was a relationship that crumbled, a career that derailed, or a deep longing that now feels impossible.

You’re not alone.

In the book of Genesis, we meet Joseph—a young man who knew what it felt like to have everything ripped away. The favorite son of his father, he was given a special coat as a symbol of his status. But his older brothers resented him, especially after he shared God’s vision that one day he would be a great leader. Their jealousy ran so deep that they conspired to get rid of him.

One moment, Joseph had a future filled with promise. The next, he was at the bottom of a pit, betrayed by his own family, listening as they debated whether to sell him or let him die.

That wasn’t the plan. That wasn’t the dream. That wasn’t the promise.

But here’s the thing about God’s story for our lives—sometimes, it takes a detour we never saw coming.

The Pit is Not the End of the Story

If you’ve experienced trauma or abuse, you know what it feels like to have your life’s story shattered. Maybe someone else’s choices—their cruelty or neglect—made you feel like you were thrown into a pit with no way out. Maybe the dreams you once had for yourself feel impossible now, buried under the weight of pain and loss.

Joseph’s story reminds us that even when it looks like everything is lost, God is still at work. Joseph wasn’t just thrown into a pit—he was sold into slavery, falsely accused, and imprisoned. Every time it looked like things were getting worse. But through it all, God was positioning him for something greater.

Not despite the detours. But through them.

God is Not Limited by the Brokenness of Others

When we’ve been hurt, it’s easy to believe that our pain is the end of the road. That the damage done has sealed the end of the story. That the betrayal, the loss, the injustice—whatever it is—has rewritten our future in permanent marker. But that’s not how God works.

Joseph himself put it best when he finally stood face-to-face with the very brothers who had sold him into slavery:

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." — Genesis 50:20

What was meant to destroy him became the very thing that positioned him to bring healing—not just for himself, but for an entire nation.

And that’s the hope we hold on to.

Not that everything will suddenly make sense overnight. Not that the pain we’ve endured will be erased. But that even in our detours, God is still working. That He is not limited by what others have done. That He sees us in the pit, in the prison, in the moments of deepest loss, and He is not finished with our story.

Your Detour is Not Your Destination

If you are walking through a season of detour, if you feel like your dreams are shattered, if you feel like all you see are obstacles and don’t know how to move forward—please hear this:

This is not the end of your story.

Joseph didn’t stay in the pit. And you won’t either.

Healing is a journey, and it’s never a straight line. Sometimes it feels like two steps forward and one step back. But just because the twists and turns of the road look different than you expected, it doesn’t mean tthat God's destination has changed.

So what do you do when you find yourself waylaid on your way to the promise?

• Keep trusting, even when you can’t see the way forward. Joseph had no idea how God would redeem his situation, but he remained faithful in the small things—whether that was serving in Potiphar’s house, maintaining integrity when falsely accused, or using his gift of interpreting dreams even while in prison. Keep taking the next small step forward.
• Surround yourself with truth-tellers. When trauma lies to you—telling you you’re worthless, forgotten, or beyond hope—lean into people who will remind you of what’s true. Seek out safe, supportive relationships and let them speak life into you.
• Do the work of healing, even when it’s hard. Joseph had to face his past when his brothers came back into his life. He had to choose forgiveness instead of bitterness. Healing isn’t passive—it takes courage to step into it. Maybe that means therapy, an Explore or Mending the Soul group, journaling, or working through past wounds with a trusted mentor.
• Stay open to the unexpected ways God moves. Joseph never could have predicted that his path to leadership would go through slavery and prison, yet that was the very route that led him to God’s purpose. Be willing to release your version of the timeline and trust that God’s way—however winding—will lead to restoration.

God is still writing your story. And nothing—not your past, not your trauma, not the betrayal of others—can stop His purpose for you.

You are seen. You are loved. And you are worth the journey.