God Knows the Way

Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

God is always speaking to us. He is always directing us. Because He sees all time, He knows our beginning and our end. He sees the result of every potential decision we face, positive or negative. The Prophet Isaiah here is speaking of how things should be in our lives and our walk with God. The image is one of a Shepherd guiding His flock gently from behind. That is God in our lives, if we are in tune with His will and listening for His voice. He is ever-present; telling us "this is the way, walk in it."

But let's face it, sometimes we are not the best listeners. We can rationalize in our own minds, tend to think we know better, or rely upon what we see instead of what we believe. We can listen to the world and the solutions it might offer before considering what the Word of God says and when they seem to conflict, we can still make excuses. When we face the wilderness we can often turn to friends, co-workers or family before turning to God. Remember beloved that while everyone has an opinion, only God has the answer. It becomes increasingly difficult however, to hear the Lord if we do not listen to Him. God does not work as we do. He does not think like we do. In fact His thoughts and ways are far above ours (Isaiah 55: 8-9). So, we must remember a few things if we are to improve our ability to hear and follow the paths God is leading us into.

The human instinct is to take the easiest way out. The easiest way however, is not always the right way. How many times have we taken the easier way out only to find it was not the right way? Let's look at the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt. They had been enslaved in Egypt for 430 years at the point God was designing their deliverance. After the tenth plague, Pharaoh finally relented and allowed the Israelites to leave. The destination was Canaan the land promised to Abraham. The quickest route between Egypt and Canaan at this time was a well traveled road along the Mediterranean Sea coast. To rely on human understanding, Moses would have led the Israelites along this road. It is what would have made the most sense. It was what their eyes would have believed. But God led them instead along a desert road. A much longer and less traveled road into the wilderness. By human understanding, this would actually be the wrong way, yet Moses knew better than to question when he heard the voice behind him saying, "This is the way, walk in it."

Similarly, we could find ourselves searching for our own exodus out of our own slavery. The world often holds us in captivity and bondage. We could be searching desperately for the way out of the wilderness we are in. That dry desert place. It may seem like we have been there for 430 years! We may even see the easy way out. The way that seems to make sense according to what we feel or know. The world may tell us it is the right way. God however always knows better.

Going back to the Israelites we know there were several reasons why God led the Israelites the way He did and the same reasons may apply to your life as well. First of all, according to historical scholars, the coastal road that seemed so much easier and more direct was known to be heavily fortified with Egyptian outposts. The enemy was all over the easier path and God knew it. Escaping from one problem and diving into another is not how God works. When He delivers you, He fully delivers you. Life may present us with a difficult situation and the world may offer its solution. It may look easy to the eye and make sense logically. But if God knows not only which road looks best, but which one actually leads to the best conclusion, it would be far wiser to listen for His voice. If there are enemy outposts on the easy road seeking to trip you up more, His voice will not guide you to those paths. Yet despite knowing this, we can still take the easier path only to be attacked by the enemy along the way. We can follow our heart instead of listening for God.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

I know in my walk there have been many times the course I have planned in my heart has not lined up with the steps God has determined for me. If I listened to God and changed my course things worked out but when I didn't listen I would end up with more problems then when I started.

Secondly, God will only direct you to paths that glorify His name. The easy path rarely does. At the end of your struggles, you should be able to say, "I never could have gotten through this without God." If that sentence ends with something other than God the victory was not of Him and will probably not last. The solutions of God are permanent. He has a plan for our lives and for our enemies. He had a plan for Pharaoh, who He knew would pursue the Israelites. Egypt had held God's people for too long in bondage but God was now set to remind everyone who He was:

Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD." And they did so. Exodus 14:4 (NKJV)

God would lead the Israelites through the parted red sea and the Egyptians would follow. After providing safe passage for His people, God would close the waters back upon the enemies of God and they would be destroyed. A mighty victory that could only be accomplished by the Lord. The victory brought even more glory to His name then if the Israelites had tried the easier way out.

The last reason the easiest way is not always the right way is that the destination is not as important to God as the journey we take to get there. There are habits to be broken in the wilderness. There are things that are not of God that need to be left behind. The Promised Land will always be there waiting for when God knows you are ready to enter it. The Israelites didn't even get to the Red Sea before they were ready to go back to their slave-masters:

Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness." Exodus 14: 11-12 (NKJV)

Easier is not always better. God never promised your road would be easy. In fact Jesus Himself said that in this world we will have tribulation (John 16:33). Unfortunately, we can often prefer the slavery we know than the unknown road that requires faith. Such was the case for the Israelites here. Faced with the chariots of Pharaoh chasing them down they actually would prefer to go back to the bondage they had been in for 430 years! Remember, they had just seen the mighty move of God as He pronounced 10 plagues on the land of Egypt yet despite this, they believed the fear their own eyes showed them instead of holding to what they believed and the awesome power God had already shown in their lives.

Another example of this is with the Prophet Elijah. During his days, many were worshipping the false God, Baal. He was directed by God to confront King Ahab, who had allowed the worship of idols and false Gods. Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to prove who was the real God:

Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire--he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good." 1Kings 18: 22-24

The Bible says the prophets of Baal called on him from sunrise until dusk but no answer. They shouted louder and slashed themselves until their blood flowed but no answer. They endured the taunting of Elijah yet no answer from their false God. Elijah then soaked his offering three times with water and still God answered and burned it up. The 450 prophets of Baal were slain a mighty move of God on display for all to see as well as Elijah. However, Elijah would also flee the harder road. Queen Jezebel demanded his head and even though he had just seen how mighty God was, Elijah fled into the wilderness where he told God he wanted to die. He believed the fear in his heart and seemingly forgot all that God had done.

We too can be facing our wilderness experience and like Elijah, believe death is a better option. We too can begin to think that the slavery we know is better than the unknown road that requires faith. Realize that most of the time when the road is marked with suffering it could very well be because of how we approach the road. Because the Israelites did not believe in the power of God when they first approached Canaan, they would wander for 38 more years until the faithless generation died out. We want to know the path God has for us but there is a part we play as well:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths - Proverbs 3:5

He directs your paths by saying, "This is the way, walk in it." But in order to hear Him we need to trust Him with all of our heart. On Mount Carmel, Elijah trusted God with all of his heart but when faced with the threat from Jezebel, his fears conquered his trust. If we want to know the right path and hear from God we must not trust ourselves we must not lean upon our own understanding. Remember, His ways are so much higher than ours. He sees the destruction on the easy path that we cannot see. When the Israelites first encountered Canaan, they believed the report of the ten spies who leaned on their own understanding not that of God. To them the people who inhabited the land were too large for them to conquer.

But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." Numbers 13: 31-33

In whose eyes did they seem like grasshoppers? Their own eyes! The enemy will always sell you short and God as well. Thankfully, Joshua and Caleb got it right:

Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." Numbers 14: 6-9

Joshua and Caleb understood that if the Lord was with them, it didn't matter how big the enemy was. They acknowledged the Lord in all their ways and their path became clear to them. This was what Elijah needed to realize when the threat from Jezebel reached his ears. This is what we need to realize as we strive to listen to the voice of the Lord. God could have made it easy on Elijah but there was much the Prophet needed to learn. He could have made it easy on the Israelites but there was much growth needed in His people. That growth would not have occurred on the easier road. We too need to grow and learn. He will make our paths known only through faith. When He says "This is the way, walk in it", we need to remember that while the world may have an opinion, God has the answer.

Reverend Anthony Wade July 30, 2009