You never know what events are going to transpire to get you

“You never know what events are going to transpire to get you home.” Thus spoke Og Mandino, the sage of inspiration, whose words have guided many through despair to renewal. In this single, humble line lies a truth as vast as destiny itself: that the road of life is uncertain, that its twists and turns are often unseen, and that even the trials which wound us most may, in the end, become the very steps that lead us home. It is a reminder that the path to peace, purpose, or belonging rarely unfolds as we expect — and that the mysterious workings of time, fate, and faith often weave together a tapestry too intricate for mortal eyes to see until we have reached its end.

To speak of “home” is to speak not merely of walls or hearth, but of wholeness — the place, both earthly and spiritual, where one truly belongs. Home is the soul’s resting place, the point where wanderings cease and one recognizes who they are and where they are meant to be. Yet, as Mandino wisely observed, the journey to that home is never simple. The events that transpire — the accidents, the delays, the losses, the unexpected meetings — often appear as detours or misfortunes. Only later do we see that these were not obstacles at all, but divine instruments guiding us toward a destination our own understanding could never have reached.

Consider the ancient story of Joseph, the dreamer of the Hebrew Scriptures. Sold by his brothers into slavery, betrayed, imprisoned, and forgotten — his life seemed shattered beyond repair. Yet each misfortune was a secret thread in a greater design. For through his suffering, he rose to power in Egypt and, in time, saved his family from famine. The events that appeared cruel and senseless were the very ones that carried him home — not only to his kin, but to the purpose for which he was born. So too, in our own lives, what we call tragedy may, in time, reveal itself as the mercy that redirects us toward our true path.

Og Mandino himself understood this intimately. Once lost in the shadows of addiction and despair, he wandered the streets without purpose, believing his life to be a ruin. Yet it was in that very darkness that he found his calling — discovering a simple inspirational book that sparked his transformation. The man who once thought himself forsaken became a writer whose words brought light to millions. The events that transpired — his pain, his exile, his seeming failures — were, in truth, the forces that led him home to meaning and faith. From this lived experience, he spoke not with theory, but with the wisdom of one who had been lost and found.

In Mandino’s quote, there is both mystery and comfort. The uncertainty of life is not chaos, but a form of grace — the unseen hand of destiny shaping the journey in ways the traveler cannot yet understand. The storms that push us from our chosen course may, in truth, be carrying us toward safer shores. The delay that frustrates us may be the very pause that spares us greater sorrow. What feels like loss may be preparation for a truer gain. In every twist of fate, there lies the whisper of divine orchestration — the gentle assurance that home is waiting, and that we will arrive, though not by the route we imagined.

This truth is echoed across the ages. The poet Dante Alighieri, in his Divine Comedy, begins lost in a dark wood — his path obscured, his heart in despair. Yet through his descent into the inferno, his passage through suffering, he rises at last into the light of paradise. The road to his spiritual home was one of trial and revelation. So too, each of us must pass through the forests of uncertainty before we behold the clarity of homecoming. It is in the wandering that we find the wisdom to recognize where we truly belong.

Lesson: Trust the journey, even when it seems unclear. Do not curse the detours, for they may be the very roads that lead you where you need to go. Every experience — joyful or painful — has a purpose in shaping the soul for its homecoming. When you stumble, rise; when you are delayed, wait; when you are lost, listen. For the universe is not without order, nor the heart without a guide.

So remember the gentle wisdom of Og Mandino: you cannot always see how the threads of fate are being woven, but you can trust that they are being woven well. Each twist of life, each event — even those that seem cruel or senseless — is part of a story leading you home. And when you finally arrive, looking back upon the path that brought you there, you will see that every sorrow, every joy, every unforeseen turn was necessary — each one a step in the divine choreography of your becoming.