I listened to a teaching by Joyce
Meyer the other day and she spoke about the fact that we are never
alone. God is always with us, in every circumstance and in all
situations. He is our best friend and we can share anything with
Him. He is always by our side and He will never leave us nor
forsake us. We can rest assured that we are always cared for. She
then mentioned something in passing that made me think and dig
deeper. She said that God didn't take the Israelites on the
shortest journey from Egypt to the Promised Land; He took them the
long route. The shortest route from Egypt to the Promised Land was
an eleven day journey. But God didn't take them that way, He took
them the long route that would have taken them two years (in the
end it took them forty years, but it was due to their own
disobedience). Why did God take them the long route instead of the
shorter one? Because He knew that once they arrived in the Promised
Land they would need to fight the inhabitants of the land and they
weren't ready for it. Also they didn't really know Him and His
ways, so He needed to teach them that and strengthen them in Him,
before they met all the other 'gods' of the inhabitants of
Canaan.
The same is true of us today. God
often takes us on the longer route in our lives. We want things to
be instant, we want things to happen quickly, but more often than
not it doesn't. This can truly be frustrating. I have had many
promises from God take years and years to materialize and some
haven't even yet. It is easy to lose hope then and to get
demotivated, to doubt and to wonder whether you heard correctly
from God. But the thing is God is preparing us for what lies ahead
and He cannot set the plans in motion for our lives if we are not
ready for it.
I want to discuss two aspects to
this, first of all in the real life events of the Israelites God
prepare them for battle against their enemies. Now God could have
sent a plague and killed off the enemy forces in one swoop. He
could have stepped in and do all the 'fighting' on their behalf.
But He didn't. He wanted them to show their obedience to Him and He
wanted them to grow stronger through it all. Of course He helped
them as we see with the walls of Jericho, but they still had to do
their part. The walls didn't just fall down. They had to walk
around it and not just once, but every day for seven days and on
the seventh day seven times!! And then they had to shout and only
then did the wall collapse. And after the wall collapsed, they
still had to enter in themselves and fight. God didn't just let all
the occupants die after the fall of the wall. No, God wanted them
to fight and to learn to trust Him in the process. The same is true
of us. Yes God can sort out all of our problems with no effort on
His side, but He wants us to do our part, He wants us to trust in
Him, to walk with Him and to exercise our spiritual muscles so that
we can be warriors in His Kingdom. God doesn't want us to stay
babies in the faith, He wants our muscles to grow and become
stronger, so that He can use us mightily for His Kingdom!
Secondly, God sent the Israelites
on the longer route so that they can get to know Him better. And
today He wants us to get to know Him better as well. He cannot and
will not release us into our ultimate purpose if we do not know Him
and His ways. For if we don't then we will do more damage than
good. He wants us to read our Bible, to spend time in reflection
and prayer, to learn more from Biblical teachers so that we can be
grounded in our faith in Him. So that when He releases us into His
ultimate purpose for our lives, we will be ready to shine and to
make a huge difference in the world around us.
Please don't make the mistake that
the Israelites made. God's longer route for them was two years
instead of eleven days. That was His plan and it would have worked
out perfectly. BUT they didn't listen and they didn't trust Him.
And because they didn't, their longer route of two years became a
much longer route of forty years. Plus only two adults who left
Egypt, entered into the Promised Land, the rest died in the
Wilderness. Do not allow that to happen to you. It is possible to
totally miss your calling in life if you do not spend time with God
to grow spiritually, if you simply want to take the easy way out
each time and are not prepared to stand and fight. You can also
singlehandedly postpone your calling with years and years if you do
not take your spiritual growth with God seriously. I beg you to
rather stay close to Him and allow Him to take the lead. Then yes,
it might still take time and it might still be a longer route, but
then you can know that it is the best for you and that you will
arrive at your destination not a moment too soon or too late, but
just in time. God's timing is perfect, trust in it!
Father I know we do not always
appreciate the longer routes that we need to take in our lives, but
we realize that the longer routes helps us to grow and to develop
our spiritual muscle. Help us to be patient during those times and
to trust You with all of our hearts and minds. We know that You
know best. Help us with the growing process and keep us close to
You. We pray it in Jesus' Name. Amen