Part 6: Why This Squandering?

Does God waste anything?

Is this time of “waiting” just days I’m squandering?

Why does God often take years and years to prepare a man or woman He intends to use?

It’s All About Alignment

Just like a car must be in alignment in order to drive smoothly down the roads of life we also need to be spiritually aligned with God, in order to travel our journey smoothly. Doors remain closed when we are out of alignment. Detours remain looming for miles and miles up ahead. Alignment is one of those critical spiritual components that so few people seem to fail to grasp, and even more fail to apply. Yet it can open up your pathway to destiny faster than almost anything else (John 15:5).

There was a businessman who had a demanding day ahead of him and was already late for work. He turned on the car, put it in reverse, and punched the button on the garage door opener. Nothing happened. He hit it again and again, a little harder each time. Still nothing. I’ve got to get out of this garage and make it to work in time for my big meeting, he thought. Frustrated, he put the car in park, pulled out his cell phone, and called the garage door repairman.

When the repairman answered the phone, the businessman explained the situation and begged for help. “I can’t get to my destination because I’m stuck in my garage.”

The garage door repairman told the businessman to walk over to the garage door and find what looked like canisters at the bottom left and bottom right of the door. So the businessman found the canisters.

The repairman asked, “Are the red lights at the center of the canisters pointed exactly at each other?” The businessman noticed that the red lights in one of the canisters were not in alignment. The repairman said, “That’s your problem. When the red lights are not in perfect alignment, the door can’t receive the signal to open.” After the businessman shifted the canister a little bit, the red lights matched up, the door opened, and he was off to tackle his busy day.

One of the reasons people have trouble staying on detours too long is because they are out of alignment with God—the only one who can give them the straight line ahead. If Christians live misaligned lives, we won’t get His signal. We won’t hear “Turn here,” when we need to. Or “talk to this person,” or “apply for this job.” Rather, we will be stuck trying to constantly figure things out on our own based on logic and reasoning.

Tony Evans, DETOURS: The Unpredictible Path To Your Destiny