After Abram followed his father north, this mistake—as we’d probably label it—did not prevent him from later heading southwest to pursue his calling. All too easily we get hooked up on an idea of a right and wrong path that does not seem to be how God views life.
When God calls Abram in Haran, he does not chastise Abram for travelling north, tell him he’s been wasting his time, nor inform him he should have prayed or fasted more before making such a foolish decision. Instead, it's when Abram's dream of the land of Canaan looks to have died that God reignites it.
Stop-offs in Haran are not mistakes but opportunities for us to learn more about who we are and who God is.
When we find ourselves stalled or at a dead-end, “Go to/towards yourself to the land I will show you” (Gen. 12:1) is a promise that God will continuously step in to remind us of where we want to be.
This is why God is not afraid of the decisions we make or the places we end up in. He knows that whatever happens, he can take action to reveal another glimpse of the better future we dream of.
God will show us.
The question that plagues those of us seeking guidance is: how on earth does he do this?
We're going to get practical in a moment, but first we need to squash the popular notion that God does this similarly to how traffic lights control vehicle flow.
