“So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.” Exodus 13:18
Fifteen years of my life were spent designing highways for the State of Nebraska. There were projects that improved what was already in place, widening the roadway, adding driveways and improving drainage and guardrail but the most enjoyable projects for me were the ones that involved a new horizontal and vertical alignments.
I laid out the geometrics for a few projects that were major expressways in Nebraska that had tri-levels elevated high above other freeways and railroads and streams; they were intentionally designed to move the traffic more effectively and bypass anything that might cause traffic to slow down.
We live in a fast-paced culture and have grown to always find the quickest way to get from point A to point B. When God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt, He did not take them on the shortest route as it would have led them through enemy territory. Had Israel taken that route they would have wanted to return to their starting point.
Sometimes the paths that God sets for our journey are not always the shortest, quickest routes or at least that is how they appear at the moment on this side of Paradise. The attached photo was taken on the road between Arcahaie and St. Marc and the truck on the right is similar to the way the Trinity HOPE feeding directors transport supplies from a large town to the rural schools and kitchens and eventually to the plate of a waiting child. It is quite a distance from point A to point B, not in kilometers, but in time.
Our lives may seem at times to be bogging down and we need to trust God, remain faithful knowing that His purpose for our lives happens to be taking the long way. How often have we complained about our journey that is taking place in His time and not our choosing? His way is always the best way, probably not the way of this world, but the better way. We may not yet know God’s purposes for our lives but we can and should be sure that God guides us through our journey for our good and for His glory.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay