Wary eyes met his as he issued the command to set up camp on the edge of the wilderness. It was to be expected. Moses had also noticed the side-eye he’d received when he led them toward the Red Sea. The people weren’t stupid. Generations of enslavement and hard labor hadn’t dulled their sense of direction. They knew there was another, closer route to take toward the promised land. So did Moses. So did God. God also knew His people. He knew their pain and suffering. He was acquainted with their grief. He understood the fragility of their faith. He fully comprehended that if He led them the close way, they would encounter pushback from the Philistines who inhabited that area. There would be war. And, in their current mindset, the people He had worked so diligently to free would throw up their hands and run back to Egypt in surrender again to slavery.
It would be difficult to blame them. The people had been through so much. Few had known freedom. Ever. Most were born into slavery. Many of the men had unknowingly faced death as infants at Pharaoh’s command. Only the faith and cunning of the Israelite midwives had spared their lives. They had all known hard labor. Fear. Punishment. Abuse. For decades they cried out to God for salvation. They had no proof He heard. Silence echoed from the heavens. God seemed uncaring. Uninterested. Unconcerned with their plight. And the people began to wonder if He had forgotten them, forgotten the covenant He had made with Abraham. He hadn’t. (Exodus 1:15-23; 2:23-24; 5:19-23)
Looking down on His people from His dwelling in the heavens, God saw the horror of their situation. He watched the forced labor, the beatings, the abuse. He felt their pain. His ears rang with their cries as they struggled and suffered. He knew they were exhausted. Physically. Spiritually. Emotionally. Broken spirits. Battered faith. Burned out confidence. Belief was at an all-time low. Trusting God seemed futile. He had done nothing to rescue them. They had no proof He ever would. They had been asking for a long time to no avail. As their circumstances worsened, their ability to hope and trust in God depleted. Yet, the circumstances that deprived them of hope and diminished their faith had no impact on God’s ability to act. When His people were too broken and downtrodden to believe He could or would rescue them, when all they could do was moan and cry out their affliction to God, when hope seemed gone and help was nowhere to be found, God acted.
Into their pain and sorrow and brokenness, God sent Moses. Coming back from his 40-year hiatus in Midian, God sent him to stand up to Pharaoh and deliver the people of Israel. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be immediate. God was on a mission to show himself to the Egyptians. He wanted to reveal His glory and let them know who was God. He wanted to give them the opportunity to believe. For weeks, as God worked out His plan, the Israelites rode the roller coaster of Pharaoh’s broken promises of freedom. Plagues came in Egypt. Water became blood. Frogs descended. Hordes of gnats flew out of the ground. Flies infested everything. Livestock died. Boils infected. Hail pulverized the crops. Locusts ate what remained. Darkness covered the earth for three entire days. A lesser man would have relented, yet Pharaoh still tried to negotiate their exit strategy. He made promises he knew he’d never keep. The Israelites’ hopes were dashed so many times they could barely muster the strength to believe. Then the final plague came. (Exodus 6:2-9; 7:14-10:29)
The firstborn of every household would die. Everyone would be affected. Not just the land of Egypt. Everyone needed to paint their doorway with blood if they wanted to be spared. The Israelites were given specific instructions. What to wear. What to cook. What to pack. What to eat. And they needed to be ready to leave. There would be no time to make preparations later. They couldn’t run around collecting their clothing and throwing some bread in a bag for lunch. No. Their yeast-less dough should be in their mixing bowls and their households ready to travel. They were leaving. For real this time. God had spoken and He would make it happen. (Exodus 11-12)
For people so beleaguered by oppression and bondage, it must have taken every ounce of faith they could muster to follow the orders they were given. Kill the lamb. Paint the door frame. Cook the food. Mix the dough. Ready your household for travel. One wonders if the entire time they were following Moses’ commands, their minds were reeling with, “What if…” questions. What if God didn’t come through? What if they did all this and Pharaoh backed out again? What if they didn’t get out in time and some of them were held back by the Egyptians? What if they got out in the wilderness and died, abandoned and alone, when they could just live, even oppressed, in Egypt? What if everything failed? What if it all came to nothing? What if their faith was misplaced? What if, after traversing the obstacles of exiting Egypt, they ended up in an even worse situation?
They didn’t really have a choice. They had to risk it. Now. Sucking in great, calming breaths, they stalwartly made ready. Bags were packed. Livestock were gathered. Dough was made. Blood was sprinkled. The meal was cooked and eaten. Their sandals were on their feet. Their walking sticks were in their hands. When Moses and Aaron issued the order to evacuate, they were ready. And God brought them out of the land of Egypt safely with their flocks and herds, the aged and little ones. He delivered them from evil. Not in the way they imagined He would. Not at the time they believed He should. And now, not even in the direction it seemed they should go. This wasn’t the quickest way to the promised land. They knew it. Moses knew it. Surely God knew it. So why were they taking the long way? Why were they heading through the wilderness toward the Red Sea? Was God really leading them out or was He leading them to their death? He had brought them out of Egypt, but was it time for them to take the wheel now that it seemed God had His wires crossed? (Exodus 12:29-40)
God wasn’t confused about where He was leading His people. At all. He simply knew His children. He knew how downtrodden they were. He knew their discouragement. He understood their emotional fragility. He was aware that their ability to face a new enemy would end in certain disaster. They were not in a place to fight back. In their current, vulnerable state, the first sign of trouble from the Philistines would have them tempted to run back to the alleged safety of Egypt. They had to go this way. In order to remove the temptation to turn back, God led them by a way they weren’t anticipating. A path they hadn’t considered. A course that would take them out of harm’s way until they were in a stronger spiritual and emotional space. God wasn’t about to lead them into temptation in the process of delivering them from evil. (Exodus 13:17-18)
He won’t do that to you either. Embattled as you are in the things that beat on your soul. Waiting as you are for God to keep the promise of doing something new in your life. Disheartened as you are when everything around you seems to be crumbling and you feel like you are constantly perched on the precipice of despair. Worried and anxious over your future, your job, your relationship, your child. Emotionally drained, physically exhausted, mentally numb due to your current circumstances. Questioning if God is even going to do that thing–whatever it is–He promised. Feeling like there has to be a better, faster, more efficient way to get to the good part of His promise, know this. God isn’t stalling. He isn’t waiting it out to see how long you can handle the panic and pressure. God is working out His plan in the way that is best for you. He is asking you to trust Him while He works. Then trust Him while He leads. Trust Him when the path He is taking you down isn’t the one you think is best. Remembering this. God will not lead you into temptation while delivering you from the evil. (James 1:13; Isaiah 43:16-19; I Corinthians 10:13; Psalm 23:3; 37:23)
Sometimes it is in our best interest to go the long way. We really don’t like it. In our world of instant gratification, we are incredibly poor at waiting. But God is never making you wait just to torture or penalize you. God is allowing you to wait because He knows what is ahead. He knows what is going to happen, how you will feel, what you will do when you meet certain obstacles or gain certain goals. And He is trying to keep you away from temptation. Just like you’ve asked. Every time you pray the prayer Jesus’ taught us to pray in the Gospels, you asked Him to do just that. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” That’s what God is doing. Because He knows you. He knows what will make you and what will break you. He knows how strong or fragile your emotional, physical, and spiritual health is. And, like the prophet Isaiah wrote and Jesus quoted, “He will not break a bent reed. He will not snuff out the smoldering flax.” He knows where you are and cares about every part of you. You can trust Him. (Isaiah 42:3; 46:10; Matthew 6:9-13; 12:20)
So do it. Trust God with your uncertainty, your fears, your cares. Trust Him with your vulnerabilities, your exhaustion, your questions. Trust Him to lead you away from temptation and deliver you from evil at the very same time. Trust Him to do that new thing He promised. Because He will. At just the right time, in just the right way, God will keep His promise. He will rescue you. He will honor you. He will bless your life. As you daily cry out your pain and frustration, angst and anger, fear and uncertainty to God, know that He hears you. He sees you. He understands your circumstances. And He has a plan. He will rescue you. But you will have to trust Him. Trust His heart of love for you. Trust His inherent goodness. Trust His timing, His path, His plan. Know that God is sovereign over all the distressing, discouraging, disastrous things in your life. Trust Him to bring you victoriously through. The same God who brought the people of Israel to the promised land via the long way, through hardship and horror, between walls of water, and across desert wilderness, will make a way for you too. Even if your faith is faulty. Even if your belief is broken. Even if your hope is hesitant. Know that you can trust Him. Know that He is working for your good. Know that He always keeps His promises. Even when He takes you the long way. (Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 15:21; Psalm 34:15; 91:15; I Peter 5:7; II Timothy 4:18; Ephesians 3:20; Isaiah 55:8-9; II Corinthians 1:20)