We continued our study of Exodus this week, looking at the map of Egypt and Canaan and the Wilderness and how it just... doesn't make sense! There is a DIRECT line from Egypt to Canaan, and it would've taken them only 30 days on foot to get there via that direct line!
We see the beginning of our faith journey- being freed from Pharaoh and led out of Egypt, and we think that we have some idea of what the end should look like- the Promised Land. Then, if you're like me, you plot our your life according to your desires, and assume that the straight, direct path to the Promised Land that you have devised in your head is obviously what God would choose also... right?!
Wrong.
Exodus 13:17-18 says this:
"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle."
Honestly, the applications of these truths feel like a punch in the gut sometimes, and the "pure joy" of James 1:2 at other times. I know that God chose this season of wilderness for me, just as He CHOSE to lead the Israelites through the wilderness. Even as my sinful self argues with Him, crying "But, THAT way would have been better!", it brings me great joy to know that He is the one leading me- that He loves me SO deeply that He has planned my journey with PURPOSE and is leading me through it every step of the way.
I know that He sees what would have happened if we chose our own way (the war and the changing of minds, and the return to Egypt), and though we obviously can't know exactly how that would have played out in our lives, I am so thankful that He chooses a different path for us than we would have chosen for ourselves.
I am thankful because He chooses for His chosen people the path that leads toward the miracle of the Red Sea, and ultimately, to the Promised Land- the union with Him that our hearts ache for- and for that, I can not help but praise Him in the wilderness.
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Hope you're having a blessed week, friends!
I can so I identify with this post. I figured God was just going to throw open the doors as soon as I left school, after all he did give me a free missions/discipleship trip to the Cayman Islands. I had an interview the week I got back; I thought I was set. Wrong. God has taught me that I progress on his time and at his place and that if he has to imprison me here to make me like his Son (Romans 8:29), he does not mind doing so.
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