This 5-day devotional draws directly from Drew Reding's sermon “Road Trip - Unexpected Detours” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.
When God Closes the Door
Monday — Understanding the Truth
Have you ever had a plan fall apart — a good plan, one you were sure about — and wondered if you'd missed something?
Today's Scripture "And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them." — Acts 16:6–7
Reflection Paul wasn't wandering. He had a clear mission, a solid route, and a team he trusted. He was doing exactly what he believed God had called him to do. And then — twice — a door slammed shut. Not because he was sinning. Not because his heart was wrong. Simply because God had something else in mind.
That's a hard thing to sit with. We tend to think of God's guidance as green lights — the open door, the clear sign, the unmistakable yes. But Acts 16 quietly expands that picture. God guides us through closed doors too. The no is not a mistake. It's not a punishment. It's navigation.
Paul's story tells us that a blocked path isn't the end of the journey — it's a turn in it. The same Holy Spirit who opens doors also, sometimes, closes them. And both are acts of love.
If you're standing in front of a door that won't open right now, you're in good company. Paul stood there too. And what looked like a dead end turned out to be the beginning of something far greater than he'd planned.
Today's Step Think of one closed door in your life right now. What would it look like to hold it with open hands today, rather than as a verdict?
A Closing Thought God's no is never the absence of guidance — it's often the very heart of it.
The Road That Doesn't Make Sense
Tuesday — When It's Hard
There's a particular kind of discouragement that comes not from doing something wrong, but from doing everything right — and still hitting a wall.
Today's Scripture "And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.'" — Acts 16:9
Reflection Before Paul received that vision, he was stuck. Two doors closed. No clear direction. Just a coastline at the edge of his plans and silence where he'd hoped for clarity.
That in-between place is one of the loneliest places to be. You've prayed. You've tried. You've stayed faithful. And still, nothing seems to be moving. It's easy in those moments to spiral — to wonder if God is listening, if you misheard him, if something is wrong with you.
But here's what's worth noticing: Paul didn't receive the vision in a moment of triumphant faith. He received it in the dark — literally, in the night. After the confusion. After the closed doors. After the silence.
God didn't show up when everything was figured out. He showed up in the waiting.
That's where you might be today. Not on the other side of the detour, but right in the middle of it. And the middle is hard. It's okay to say that. It's okay to feel the weight of a season that isn't going the way you planned. God isn't asking you to pretend the confusion isn't real.
He's asking you to trust that he's present in it — even when you can't see the next turn yet.
Today's Step Sit honestly with God today. Tell him exactly where you feel stuck, and ask him to help you trust his presence in the waiting — not just his answers.
A Closing Thought The darkness where Paul received his vision wasn't a sign that God had gone quiet — it was where God chose to speak.
Small Steps on an Uncertain Road
Wednesday — Putting It Into Practice
What do you do when you don't have a clear yes yet, but you still have to keep moving?
Today's Scripture "On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together." — Acts 16:13
Reflection Read that verse again slowly. We supposed. They weren't certain. They didn't have a detailed plan. They just thought — maybe, probably — there would be people praying by the river. So they went.
That's a quietly remarkable act of faithfulness. After a dream, a sea voyage, and arriving in an unfamiliar city, Paul didn't wait for a dramatic moment. He just showed up where people might be and started a conversation.
No stadium. No revival. No lightning bolt. Just a riverside, a small group of women, and an ordinary conversation that changed everything.
This is the invitation for you today. You don't have to have the whole road figured out. You don't have to wait until the detour is over before you take the next faithful step. You just have to show up — in your neighborhood, your workplace, your kitchen table, your next conversation — and be present.
Faithfulness rarely looks spectacular in the moment. It usually looks like one ordinary step taken with an open heart.
Today's Step Identify one small, concrete thing you can do today — a conversation, a moment of presence, a simple act of care — and do it without waiting for perfect conditions or complete certainty.
A Closing Thought The most consequential things in God's story often begin with someone simply showing up and saying yes to the moment in front of them.
A Detour That Changed Everything
Thursday — What This Looks Like in Real Life
Sometimes the road that looked like a wrong turn turns out to be the only road that could have gotten you there.
Today's Scripture "One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.'" — Acts 16:14–15
Reflection Lydia wasn't in Paul's original plan. She lived in a city he only reached because every other door had closed. She was found at a riverside gathering he wasn't even sure would be there. And when Paul sat down and spoke, God quietly opened her heart.
Her home became the first church in Philippi. That church received one of the most beloved letters in the New Testament — the book of Philippians, full of joy and hope and the famous words, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
All of it traces back to a detour.
Think about what that means for the redirections in your own life. The job that didn't come through that led you somewhere unexpected. The relationship that ended and opened a door to something deeper. The plan that fell apart and, in falling apart, made room for something you never would have chosen but now can't imagine living without.
You may not see it yet. Lydia didn't know what her house would become. But God did.
Today's Step Reflect on one moment in your past where a closed door eventually led somewhere meaningful. Let that memory strengthen your trust for the detour you're on now.
A Closing Thought God doesn't waste a single reroute — he builds something with every one of them.
God Is Already on the Road Ahead
Friday — Carrying It Forward
As you head into the weekend, you may still be sitting with a closed door, an unresolved detour, or a question that hasn't found its answer yet.
Today's Scripture "And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." — Acts 16:10
Reflection This week we've been walking with Paul through one of the most unexpected journeys in the Bible. We've seen that closed doors can be guidance, that detours can carry divine purpose, and that ordinary faithfulness in small moments can change the course of a life — or even history.
Here's what I want to leave you with as you step into the weekend: the same God who redirected Paul is already at work in your story. Not someday when you've figured it out. Not once the detour is behind you. Right now — in the uncertainty, in the waiting, in the closed door you're still standing in front of.
Paul's response to the vision was immediate. Not because he had all the answers, but because he trusted the one who did. That kind of trust isn't built in a single moment — it grows one faithful step at a time, through every reroute you've survived and every door that's opened after one you were sure about stayed shut.
You don't have to have the whole map. God does. And he's already walking the road ahead of you, even on the stretches that look nothing like you planned.
Today's Step Carry this question with you this weekend: What if the detour I'm on right now is exactly where God needs me to be? Hold it gently, and see what surfaces.
A Closing Thought Go with peace. Go with courage. The God who sent Paul to Macedonia is walking with you — not someday, but right now, on whatever road you find yourself on.