How do you typically respond when you're driving and approach a detour sign?
A. Grin (grit?) and bare it!
B. Immediately seek the nearest exit or opportunity to avoid the detour.
C. See it as a chance to slow down and enjoy the scenery.

Life doesn't always go as we plan, hope, or pray. The causes of life's detours can be a mix of personal choices or mistakes, actions of others that affect you, life just happens, and/or God offers trials as a teaching tool. Share about a time in your life that you experienced a sudden detour, and how you responded to it.

Pastor Jonathan points out a central backdrop for the bible, the story of the Israelites wandering the wilderness for 40 years. These decades were one long detour! Do you see any similarities between your detour and that of the Israelites?

*Detours are just part of it. They're inevitable. With this lens, discuss the following two passages and your reactions to them.

*Detours are the way of trust. It's adopting the mindset of, "even though I don't understand and I'm not in control, I trust that God is directing me." How do you respond to the following scripture?

*Detours are not the destination. When we see our journey as a whole, it's so much easier to make it through the detours when we know it's not the end. Thinking of a recent or current detour, how might this perspective help you?

Your response to your detour determines how you'll get through it. In the following passage, what do we learn from how God told Israel to make the most of their time of exile?

We know that some of the greatest blessings come unexpectedly, during and as a result of a detour. Share an example of how you've already experienced this in your past. How does that help you to re-envision your current detour? What are your next steps as a result?