When to wait, when to go, how to trust—a challenge for all believers
By Dean Collins
I suppose you have noticed that God doesn’t always—in fact, hardly ever—takes us on the shortest route. I often set my car’s navigation system to lead me on the fastest route to where I am going. I cannot think of one time I ever deliberately set my GPS to the slowest and longest route. I want to get where I’m going quickly so I can do my job or enjoy whatever I was attempting to accomplish that day.
Living on schedules, meeting deadlines, and keeping up with customer demands can create a pace of life that at times limits us from things we might have learned and might have enjoyed if we had taken a path other than the quickest and most direct. I don’t know for sure why God often points us to a path other than the one that looks the quickest, but I am pretty confident his plans are better than ours. I’m pretty sure his ways will often bring us new wisdom, develop endurance, and result in greater glory for God.
No return
The story of the Israelites’ escape from Egypt is an example. Exodus 13:17 says this: “God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land.” When God takes us the longer way he has a purpose for our trip. In the case of the Israelites, God revealed his reason in the very next verse. “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”
God knew the amount of fear and anxiety in this community would likely cause them to abort the mission if they faced quick opposition by the Philistines. Dealing with the threat of Pharaoh’s army in pursuit was enough.
In the very next chapter, we see evidence of the fear and hesitation of God’s chosen, even when they also had visible evidence of his promised protection. The Egyptians did pursue them with full force, and immediately the Israelites let Moses know their opinion: “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”
Moses quickly responded to the fears of his followers: “Don’t be afraid,” he told them. “Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
Godly control
I often need God’s reassurance that I do not need to be afraid. He is in control. He is in charge of the rescue. The Lord himself will fight for us and we can and should just stay calm. How many of our anxious moments could be avoided by remembering God’s instructions about worry and about who is in control? How many times do we rush when God says wait or when he says, “Let me handle this for you”?
However, we do need to understand that letting God handle things does not necessarily mean stopping. Sometimes his handling of things requires us to take action immediately. That was certainly the case with the Israelites. The very next verse, after God says to stand still and let him fight the battle, he said this to Moses: ”Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!”
Call to action
As leaders, we will sometimes find ourselves in tough situations where we know God is in control and we need to watch for what God will do. In these moments we direct our followers to God’s love, his power, and his actions in the past. We let them know we have confidence in God to intervene on our behalf. But we also must understand that at any moment God can call us to action. Simply sitting down and watching is not an option. We must go with God when he calls us to move.
In the case of Moses and the Israelites, God directed Moses to raise his staff so the Israelites could walk through the sea on dry ground. The Israelites had to move when they were instructed; otherwise, they would never experience freedom. The result of both staying calm and taking action resulted in God’s glory being revealed. God wrote a script the Israelites could never have written and provided a way forward that would have otherwise been impossible.
Sure confidence
As people of faith, we must hold onto our confidence that our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God is neither inactive nor somehow weakened in our generation. He still has the power, the wisdom, and the same motivation of love for us as he had in the generations before us. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of this great truth: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
And we, those God has called to be his messengers, are also the same as in generations before. We attempt to do things ourselves. We lean on our understanding instead of trusting God with all our heart. We act when we should wait on God, and we wait on God at times after he has given us the actions to take. It is only through relentless focus on God’s Word and frequent, even continuous, prayer that can we change our spiritual tendencies and learn to move in the rhythms of God’s presence and his timing.
Lord, we confess we are slow to listen and at times slow to obey. Today help us to lean fully into your plan for our lives. We commit to letting you fight the battles instead of our usual fighting with others and sometimes even fighting with you. We ask that you prompt us by your Spirit when we need to wait and also when you call us to take action. We know that your plan is far better than anything we can hope or imagine. We surrender to you fully today. Amen.
Your time with God’s Word
Exodus 13:17-22; 14:9-22 NLT
Photo by Tamas Tuzes-Katai on Unsplash
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