The Long Way

 Happy Sunday!

"After the king had finally let the people go, the Lord did not LEAD them through Philistine territory, though that was the SHORTEST way. God had said, “If they are attacked, they may decide to return to Egypt.” So, he led them around through the desert and toward the Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt, prepared for battle."(Exodus 13:17-18 CEV). 

God never takes short cuts.  In this scripture, we see the reason behind His decision to take the Israelites the long way around to the Promised Land.  He knew that their minds had to be renewed to their new freedom status.  Taking them from slavery straight into battle with the Philistines would more than likely have caused them to fear and return to Egypt.  Do you remember Gilligan's Island?  It was a Situation Comedy from the late 1960's.  A group of tourists go on what should have been a 3-hour boat tour from Honolulu.  A storm comes up and the tiny ship is stranded on a deserted and uncharted island.  I think of this often when I think of how long it took the Israelites to get to the Promised Land.  It should never have taken more than 40 years to get there.  But this scripture can encourage us that the detour was part of God's plan.  Now don't go too far to the left and try to blame God for your sixth marriage to that psychopath!  That was not his fault, BUT he can surely weave that into your testimony and allow you to help someone else avoid that pitfall.

What can we take from this scripture, this story?  Great question!  I'm so glad you asked!  It's important to be led by the Spirit of God and not led by our emotions, by our fears, or by the opinions of others.  If we are honest, there are decisions in our lives that were BAD decisions.  If we trace the decision-making process in those instances, we are bound to find that we did get a strange feeling that the choice we were making was not the right choice.  Our ancestors would say, "I should have followed my First Mind!"  God understands this completely.  He constantly encourages us to change our thinking and renew our minds so that we will be empowered to make good decisions.  Romans 12:2 says, "Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you INSIDE with a new way of Thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect."(Easy-to-Read Version). 

Compete with yourself!  Don't compare your journey, your life, and your progress with anyone else!  When you are being led by the Spirit of God, he may take you the long way around.  If you compare your journey with the journey of another, you will be tempted to become depressed, distracted and frustrated.  Choose your battles wisely! Everybody's emergency is not your priority.  We have to determine we will go ANYWHERE but back!   Be focused on forward!  We cannot change the past, but we can change our future and the futures of others.  Going back requires no faith.  But moving forward requires that we walk by faith and not by sight!

Love and prayers, Cynthia