The Lord is Always Strategizing for Our Good: A Devotional

Exodus 13: 17-18 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.

I can imagine when the Jews left Egypt after 400 years of slavery, the last thing they wanted to face was war. They were tired and worn out, because while Moses and Aaron were negotiating with Pharaoh to free the people of God, Pharaoh had made the Jews’ work doubly hard. The exuberance of freedom would not have been enough to overcome the fear of losing in battle, so the Lord, knowing His people’s thoughts and hearts, chose a different route to freedom that allowed them to forego war.

When you read of the Israelites’ grumblings against Moses and Aaron when they became hungry and thirsty (Exodus 15-17), you realize that the Lord was right to lead His people by the way with the least likelihood of their becoming scared and despairing of why they left Egypt. It is the same with us today, for when troubles come, it is so easy to stop believing that the decisions made to move forward were the right ones, paralyzing us into remaining in bad situations, whether relationships, jobs, religious places, homes, or friendships.

When I felt the Lord telling me to leave my hometown and go to a place where I had no family, I worried that maybe I was hearing my own desires because I didn’t know how I would find the money to move and survive until I found work. Then, the Lord touched hearts and people started helping me whom I would never have asked for help. I still stand in awe of the Lord’s plans for my life then and now.

God touches our hearts to make a change, and we must trust in His leading, knowing the truth of the words of Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” The Lord God Almighty is the great Strategizer, for He knows our needs and understands our hesitations better than we do.

Amen.