Why the long way
Key Passage: Exodus 13:17
Date: June 7, 2024
We covered the firstborn and the death of the firstborn. Remember the Egyptians, man, get out of here before we all be dead. And on your way out, would you pray for us? That type of thing. We covered that. And now they’re leaving the children of Israel.
Are leaving. Let me just rehearse a bit. Remember the size. We covered that last week, maybe a million and a half, up to two million. You remember it totaled 600,000 footmen. And so you figure that. If it’s a little over a million and a half, that would be Davidson County, Rutherford County, Wilson County, all combined.
Want you just kind of grasp the magnitude, the size of this. They’re leaving Egypt. We’re not talking about one family coming in, but now they’re leaving a nation, 430 years later. Just kind of try to comprehend that. Davidson, Rutherford, Wilson County, all leaving one night—the magnitude of it, all right? That’s what’s going on. And really, we’re just going to kind of focus on one thing tonight.
Chapter 13. Look at verse number 17, if you would. Verse number 17 of God’s word. And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, lest the people repent when they see war and they return to Egypt. Well, they have a change of mind: “No, we don’t want that.” But God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up harnessed—or organized, if you will—went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. And for just a bit tonight, why the long way? That’d be the title: Why the long way?
I want you to see a little bit of the way that they went. We’ve got a couple maps here. We can just look at that one, that first map there: Israel leaving Egypt. I don’t know how well you can see it from where you’re at, but the children of Israel is over here in Egypt. Here’s Rameses, and here’s Memphis. It’s according to which map, the exact location, all right, so I don’t get too particular about it. But the children of Israel is over here. And here’s the way of the land of the Philistines, is what that says right there. This would be, of course, the shortest and a very traveled route to get over to the promised land, all along in here—promised land, Jerusalem, somewhere along in here. The most common traveled and the shortest route, many said just a couple days, would have been that way right there. And you would think, and I think most of the children of Israel thought, “Man, we’re leaving Egypt. Hey, let’s go. Let’s go the fastest, best route we can.” You know, that would have been it, according to most people, for sure, right there.
But God said, “No, no, I’ve got a different way.” Instead of you going here, we’re going to go across the Red Sea somewhere along here, and we’re going to go down through the wilderness, Mount Sinai there, and all the way—much, much longer as far as desert and water and vegetation, a much harder route. Now, a much more peaceful route. The Philistines were men of war. They were ready to fight. They’re very, very good at that. The children of Israel had been in bondage; had been in Egypt for 430 years, bondage for 400 years. And they were, for generations, had been oppressed. And after a while, that kind of affects your mindset. Have you been in slavery for all those years and oppressed, and probably not real ready to fight in battle and war? And I said, “No, no, that’s not the way we’re going to go. We’re going to go this much longer route.”
Let’s look at map. Can we look at map number two there? Just pretty much the same thing, just a little different view of the same thing. Goshen and up over here, Rameses here according to this map, and then they, instead of just going right across here to Canaan, just just kind of a straight shot—God said, “No, no, I’ve got another path. I want you to come down here. We’re going to cross over the Red Sea somewhere, and I’m going to go all the way down here in the wilderness, the desert, and we’re going to come up here to Kadesh-Barnea.” And map number three, can we get number three real quickly here? Same thing, just a little different view.
There we go. Land of Goshen, where it should have been, where we’re at. And it seemed like you just go this way. Boy, you’re there. Boom. But God said, “No, no, I’ve got a different path.” And all the way down here. Now, for just a bit, just a bit tonight, we’re going to talk about this: Why the long way? Why the long way?
Why was it that God said, “No, I’ve got a different path for you”? We can kind of sum it up with these couple words. Let me go home and get some sleep, right? Amen? You know, how about that? Here it is: They weren’t ready. That’s the short and sweet of it. They weren’t ready.
But maybe a little bit more detail: They were not ready for war against the Philistines. Now, there were some wars on the other route, Amalekites, whatnot, but not near the military power. It might not have been a much more peaceful route. They had a lot of growing to do along the way. They weren’t ready for that. They had had all these generations of oppressed people in their mindset. They needed to go from depending on their masters, the Egyptians and whatnot, what all they gave them, to depending on the Lord. Had a lot of growing to do along the way.
They needed to see how God could provide for them. They needed every morning for a good long time to see the cloud in the morning time guiding them and the fire by night—the cloud to keep them shaded and fire at night time to keep them warm. They needed that.
They needed to see the bitter water, and then they put the tree in there, and the bitter water was made sweet, and that represented the coming Messiah. They needed that.
They needed the battle where they’re down there in the valley fighting, and when Moses raised his hand, victory would come, and when his hands went down, defeat was coming to the children of Israel. They needed to see Aaron and Hur had to go up there and hold his hands. They needed to go through those battles. They needed to see God bring the quail in the middle of the wilderness. “No way can we get quail out here.” God says, “Oh, there is a way when I’m here, you know. I make the way.” They needed to see the manna every morning. They needed to see all God’s working. They had a lot of growing to do.
They needed to cross over the Red Sea and on the other side, those people that had oppressed them, and they might have had nightmares and fear going—they needed to see how God destroyed the Egyptian army. They needed to see Pharaoh gone, and they needed to sing that song of Moses of victory on the other side of the Red Sea. They needed all that. They were not ready just to walk into Canaan land.
And God said, “Look, if you see the Philistines and their military might and their power, you’re going to change your minds. You’re going to go back.” God knew.
Now let’s apply that just a little bit to your life and my life. Y’all still out there tonight? Good deal. Sometimes we just—we like, I like the shorter route. I may have got to go to point A to point B. Let’s get there as quick as we can, amen, without any tickets. Amen, no tickets. No wrecks either, you know. Can I say this? It’s going to sound funny, but it’s the truth. You know, some people have gotten money so quick, it’s ruined them. Amen. That’s going to sound crazy, but, you know, I thank God that I grew up in a family, and it’s because Mom and Dad were in the ministry for the most part and served the Lord, but I’m glad I grew up in a family where we had to do without a lot of times.
People that have money, praise the Lord for it. Money’s not bad; that’s not the root of all evil. The love of money’s the root of all evil, not money. But I think it takes a lot more character to raise good kids when you’ve got a lot of money, because you can give them everything. And that’s not the best—to give them everything.
I’m glad that I remember one time we just as a family we needed money, and we just didn’t have it, and we were praying, and I don’t know who went into the mailbox and got in the mailbox, and there was just a check in there for what we needed. I’m glad I had the memories growing up God had to answer prayers when we needed, you know. Dad had taken two old cars, put one good tire, one good car out of the two cars, you put them together, type thing. And we needed—we needed—we had three good tires, amen. Cars don’t run good on three good tires, you know. And we needed one more tire, and we were praying for that tire. And praise the Lord, me and Jamie, my buddy, we were walking down the railroad tracks, you know, back in the day, you know, and pop bottle hunting. How many has ever went pop bottle hunting back in the day? Come on. No, we’re dating ourselves here. I tell you what, you know, and you go to the store, cash some in, get some candy, amen, you know. We were pop bottle hunting and looked down in the ditch there off the railroad tracks, and there’s a tire down there, you know. You go down there, and it still had those little bitty knobbies. That means it’s not new. That means it’s brand-spanking new. You understand there’s a difference there, you know. Had the paper still on there, you know. And man, we picked that thing up and at least tried to haul it. We rolled that tire home, and of all the different sized tires, that’s the one tire we needed for that car. And for years, that’s been in my mind and my heart. And I’m glad I was able to see God answer prayers when we needed God to do something.
And I’m saying, be careful. I’ve got to have it. I’ve got to have it. It might be best for you not to have it right now. Be careful. I’ve got to have it. Don’t go in debt to get it, friend. Sometimes it’s just best to do without for a while.
We were spoiled rotten. We got a little bit of everything nowadays, you know. But Tammy’s car, the transmission went out on it. And we had taken it to a transmission shop, and Adam and Nolan sent a lot of people over there. His shop always did our people good over the years. And so anyway, we talked about it all. We kind of already suspected, and we were already looking up what we could get for a bad transmission, all that stuff. And he said, “Hey, what are you going to do with that car?” I said, “Probably going to sell it.” And he offered me twice the amount that we had said we were probably going to get. And he offered me twice. I said, “Wow, praise the Lord. Let’s shake on that thing, man, you know.” Three fingers good enough, you know, that type of thing. And we changed a little bit, but we sold that car, and the Lord’s going to give us another. We’re looking.
But anyway, here’s the thing: the last couple days, you know, we’ve been down to one car. Man, we have been spoiled rotten for years and years. You know, poor us, we’re down to one car. Isn’t that a shame? Man, the majority of the world would love to have one car, you know. But I’m saying, we’ve experienced that when we were newlyweds, I don’t know how long, you know. But I’m saying, if we’re not careful, we’ll just have so much, and we don’t appreciate it because sometimes we get it so quick. And we got so much that we don’t really enjoy or appreciate what we have. And be so careful of it. “I got to have it.” Sometimes the long route’s a good route. You appreciate it so much more later on. Be careful of wanting everything right now. Be wise about that. Learn to do without. We’ll still live. You know, we’ll be all right. We’ll make it.
Be so careful about that. It just helps you appreciate. Now, I’m going to tell some of these stories tonight. You know how it is when you were back in the day: walk to school, two miles, both ways, uphill both ways, in the snow with no feet. You understand all that now. You got all that, you know. But when we got married, we… thirty-something years ago, you know, our first lawnmower was one of those where it didn’t have an engine; your arms were the engine. And as the wheels turned, it turned the blades, you know, and it wasn’t this—Brother Gregor said, “Man, I didn’t know you’re that old, Pastor.” I tell you what. Now, you know, it was only—we lived in a trailer, we lived in a trailer park, and so it wasn’t like a big lot. But that’s what we had. And we moved, and I don’t know where—maybe our trailer way out here, we rented first. We got to push more. We thought we were uptown then, you know. And then we moved over to where we’re at now, and we cut, I don’t know, an acre and a half, two acres, whatever. And so we thought, well, we got to get a riding lawnmower. So we got one of those, you know, Craigslist—that’s the marketplace back of the day was Craigslist, you know—and online flea markets. Somebody say amen right there, you know. And we had an old, old Craftsman riding lawnmower, one of those you work on it more than you use it. You know I’m talking about it. And I had to put an engine in that, and that’s actually how we met David, David Jones. Bought a lot, and I bought an engine from him for that, that Craftsman lawnmower. But that’s what we used for years. One time our riding lawnmower was broke down, and so John had to cut our grass with the pushmower. The neighbors, oh, it’s kind of child abuse, you’re having your son cut the grass with a pushmower? Yes, we are. You know, and I remember, some of them brought the riding lawnmowers down, you know, and said, “We don’t want your riding lawnmower.” Get out of here. We’re going to work sometime, you know. But anyway, we’re going through all that.
Now, here’s what I’m saying: So years later, we got—it wasn’t brand-spanking new, okay. I didn’t have the knobbies on the tires, but we bought—it was still marketplace, amen, you know—but I can’t remember. It maybe had 30, 60 hours on it. I mean, it’s—I mean, it was my new riding lawnmower. I mean, I talk about it. My wife called it—it’s a Husky, maybe a Husky? And my wife said, “That’s your new girlfriend, that mower. You like that thing, don’t you?” Man, I like—whew! I’m riding in style now, you know. This is all right, now, you know. Didn’t even have to jump it off every time. The battery worked in it. How about that now? Come on now, you know. I mean, I’m somebody. And we still got the same thing. It broke down now. We’ll get an order. We’ll fix it, you know. But here’s my thing: You know what? For all these years, we really do enjoy—I often say to tell you, man, it’s so nice. But I do yard work to have nice equipment out next, and you enjoy it. I got a lawnmower that cranks and runs. We got a weed eater. We got all this stuff. And, you know, in some ways, I’m glad I didn’t have all that right off the bat, because I wouldn’t enjoy it now as much as I do.
So the long route. The long route is not always the worst thing in the world. God said, “Hey, you need to—we’re going to take the long route over to the land of Canaan. You can’t handle the short way.”
Look over in Proverbs, if you will, just talk about finances. Proverbs 28. I think this is just a cardinal verse when it comes to finances. I think about finances. This is probably the verse—tithing, of course, that’s biblical tithing, of course, that’s biblical—but beyond that, probably the verse that comes to my mind more than anything is this verse right here when it comes to finances: Proverbs 28, verse number 20. Proverbs 28:20 is a great, great verse. The subject is finances. Proverbs 28:20. When you’re there, would you say, “Amen”? Amen.
Proverbs 28:20. He says, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings.” Just the guy that goes to work every day. He doesn’t go in unreasonable debt. He just pays his bills. He doesn’t just write it off. If he got a hospital bill, he’ll call them and say, “Hey, we’ll give you $30 a month.” He’s faithful to pay it. A faithful man shall abound with blessings. But he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. Wow. That’s pretty clear. It’s not, “Well, he might not be.” It says, “shall not be innocent.” Be so careful. By the way, can I say this? All these videos and things out of our online: “How to get rich, how to get rich.” Be careful with all that.
“He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.” The guy that just plods along and pays his bills, and he doesn’t have the biggest and best of everything, he gets what he can afford, and he’s diligent at that—that faithful guy, he abounds with blessings. Well, that fellow says, “Man, I’m going to”—he’s not going to be innocent. He’s not. By the way, a lot of people—I say this over—a lot of people who don’t have much of a dime in their pocket have a whole lot of love of money in their heart, and they’re not innocent. They’ve not gotten rich, but they’re sure, sure trying to make haste to be rich, and they’re not innocent. Kind of goes hand in hand. Love of money is the root of all evil.
So be careful. Be careful. “I’ve got to have it now.” You know, even when you take that to young couples nowadays, they sometimes will use up all that God intends for them to wait until marriage. And they just, they got to have it, they got to have it, you know, and they step out and they use up marriage, you know, things, and they lose a period and all that. And here’s what they’re doing nowadays: They’ll spend thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars on their honeymoon because they’ve already used up where they’re supposed to save for their honeymoon, so they’re trying to make up for it, and they’re miserable when they’re spending thousands of dollars on their honeymoon, and they’re not happy because they spent it that time. Just a long route. And I said, “No, no, we’re not going to go the way of the Philistines. You don’t need to get there right off the bat.”
Can I say this, apply it a little different way? Nobody becomes a mature Christian overnight. Man, I like to be a good, strong Christian. I like him. It’s going to take time. Last year, the school building back here just had five students, so it wasn’t hard to do, but Mr. Chisgar—I’m working at because school’s about to start back up—but Mr. Chisgar had, you know, little kid, or this is where his head was at this point, you know, and the date wasn’t hot, and then, you know, and the kids, they’re watching them grow. And nobody came back, you know. They left Friday, they were here, and Monday they were here. Just nobody does that. Ryan, you know, I’m a grandparent. I’ve got to talk to my grandson every once in a while, you know, but Ryan, our grandson, you know, he’s a—he just a couple weeks ago, he got his big boy bed. He’s not sleeping in the pen and all that. He’s sleeping, and he’s sleeping in the big boy bed, you know, and he said, John’s putting me to sleep. He said, “Hey, Dad, I’m a big boy now, aren’t I? I’m a big boy.” And John said, “All right, John,” you know. And he said, “All right, big boy,” something like that. And Ryan said, “Thank you, Daddy.” Now, you know, we all want to be big boys overnight, but it takes time to grow.
And it’s like, “Well, I’m going to be—I’ll pray away every night.” Hey, it’s reading your Bible and praying every day and going through the battles and the ups and the downs and the times where your heart is and you feel like at times it’s not, but you just stay out faithfully. That’s why you grow. That’s why you become a mature Christian. Nobody’s made a great Christian overnight. It takes time.
Now, let’s look at a couple things here real quick. Look back to verse number 17. I want you to try to emphasize this as we were reading in Exodus 13. Look at verse number 17. Exodus 13:17. We’re waiting for just a second. Brother Ted’s getting there. He’s on the front row so I can see him. You know, he’s ready to go. He’s ready to go. Amen. Here we go.
Exodus 13:17. “And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that”—would you read the next two words?—“that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although it was near.” The next two words, please: “For God said.” Last prayer answer: “Lest the people repent when they see war and they return to Egypt.” But what’s the next two words? “God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.”
Now, here’s just a little thing: It was God that led them the long way. You know what we’re prone to do, myself included. Look over in chapter 14, if you would, chapter 14. They went the long route, and they’re coming up on the promised—well, not on the promise, on the Red Sea. And Pharaoh and his army had a change of mind, and they’re coming after the children of Israel. And the children of Israel kind of trapped—the Red Sea in front of them, and Pharaoh is his military behind them—and they said, “Man, that’s it for us. They’re going to kill us.” You know, they’ve been beating us all these years, and they’re ready for war, and now they’re going to kill us. And I want you to see what they do. Look at chapter 14. Look at verse number 10. “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes: behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid.”
“And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.” Now, I like that. That’s not always true of the children of Israel, but this time they did, and I praise the Lord, they did that. They cried out unto the Lord. But then what’s what they do? “And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
Now, I want you to notice, they started pointing and blaming Moses. You know, sometimes when it’s just—it’s not as quick as we want it to be, we’re not getting where we want to be as fast, you know, we’re prone to blame: “Well, my boss, they’re just never going to give me a raise. I got the sorry boss in the world.” You know, God allowed you to be there for some reason. God allowed it to come across this desk; He stamped approved on it. “Well, my spouse, I would be a better Christian, but my spouse always drags me down.” Spouse, you can go either way—husband or wife. Oh, do you know—you might not say it—but sometimes, you know, you’re there. You know, God’s allowed you to have that spouse, and God’s not done anything about it. “Well, a pastor put me in this position, and I want the world—he’s blind, he can’t see me. I’m a better candidate for that.” Well, you know, the Lord has the pastor there, and it’s supposed to be God’s man. God can work on His man. “If my parents were better parents, I’d be a better Christian today.” It’s just so easy to blame.
But you know, the truth is God led them the long way. God’s the one that said, “No, we’re not going to go the way of the Philistines. That’s not the best for you. I’m going to take you the long way.” God had a reason for it. God knew they needed every battle, every burden. God knew they needed all that. God’s in control.
Look over in Psalm 75. Psalm 75, great verse. You’ll know it. Can I just say this while you’re turning there? Just grow where God has you. Just obey. Just follow where God has you. God will grow you. He’ll get you where He wants you to be in His time. Just stay faithful to Him. Look at Psalm 75. Look at verse number six. Psalm 75, verse number six. Psalm 75, verse number six: “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” If God wants to promote you, oh, He can’t stop Him from—God promotes you. Amen. If God doesn’t want you to get promoted, you can have the most powerful, strongest, wisest people on your side, and you’re not going to have true promotion. God’s the one that brings promotion. That’s God’s business. And if God thinks it’s best for us to take the long route, just say, “Hey, I’m going to do my best to go the long route and enjoy it. Learning is supposed to be learned. God has a reason. God knows what He’s doing.”
Imagine old Joseph if bad enough—his brothers hated him, they sold him into slavery, put him in the pit, and then killed him, but they sold him into slavery. And you’re talking about the long route. Then he got over there in Egypt, and Potiphar—and then Potiphar’s wife lies about him, and then he ends up in prison. Well, you know, the baker and the butler—maybe there’s some hope here. And then after that, the butler forgot about him for two years. Boy, he could have got mad. “Oh, Potiphar’s wife, I can’t believe she’s lying about me. My brothers, I’m going to get evil with my brothers. Stinkin’ stinkin’ butler, I told him—he knows better. He said he forgot about me. He left me in this old dungeon now. He forgot about me.” Pray, Lord, he’s wise enough to realize God was overseeing. And God said, “You’re not quite ready yet, Joseph.” You think after all they did so good and made the butler, you know, but I think there’s two years after that. God said, “You need a little bit more time.” And when God was ready, God could give them the promotion he needed. God—God led them.
I understand there are middlemen, and I understand sometimes those middlemen are corrupt and they got issues and problems and all that, but God’s kingdom rules overall, and He can intervene. And God’s working, and God’s the one that said, “Hey, you need to go the long way.” It was God that led them.
Then let me just say this, just quick: three quick thoughts. First of all, it was God that led them. And then number two, learn to enjoy the long way. Look over in Philippians, if you would. Philippians, you’ll know it, Philippians 4. Some of these are very familiar verses. Philippians 4, and verse number 11. It’s Apostle Paul, and very interesting what Paul says here through the inspiration of God. Philippians 4, look in verse number 11. He says, “Not that I speak in respect of want.” I’m not trying to get more money out of you. He was trying to tell the Philippian church. He said, “I’m not trying to get more out of you, for I have learned”—so it didn’t come just instant. It wasn’t his nature. He said, “I had to learn this.” “For I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, I know how to abound; everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” And I learned that.
And the best I can do when God said, “Look, I’m not going to take you on the short journey. It’s going to be a long process.” And God says, “You’ve got a lot of growing to do and a lot of lessons.” And stop fighting all that, and “I’ve got to have it now,” and just say, “All right, Lord, I’m going to do the best I can. I’m going to learn. I’m going to learn in whatever state I am to be content.” Just just content. And I’m just going to say, “All right, God, this is where you have me.” Paul had to learn that.
Enjoy it. God had a reason for them going through the Red Sea. They needed that. They needed to see God split that Red Sea. I wonder, as they were walking down through there, I wonder if they could see big old bass right there in a while. I’m not sure. We’re going to find out about that one day, you know. But they needed to go through that. And they needed for Pharaoh and the waters to come down. And you heard it and said, “Well, some say, ‘Well, that’s just the reeds thing,’ you know, and they walked across on ankle-deep water.” Well, man, it ended in a miracle. God drowned that whole army in ankle-deep water. That’s something now, you know. But they needed all that, and God knew they needed all that.
I was talking to someone recently, and they’re going through a tough time, and they said, “You know, I don’t want to just go forward from here. I want to learn when I’m supposed to learn and then go forward.” I’ll praise the Lord for that. I love the attitude. Awesome. Be patient. God knows. He knows best. I can imagine—I tend to think so many, maybe all the Israelites knew the best way was just to go the way of the Philistines, but God said, “No, we’re going a different way.” Can you imagine? “Well, this is along this way. This doesn’t make any sense. Why, Moses, why are we going this way?” Can you hear it? Sure. “Moses, this is dumb. I mean, that’s it right there. Why are we going? This is the wrong way.” Hold on. Wrong way. You can almost just hear him complaining.
But God says, “Look, I know.” By the way, God did know. An amazing thing: even after the wilderness and all the learning, when they came to Kadesh-Barnea, had an opportunity to enter in, even then they failed the test. So that went the way of the Philistines. Boy, boom, that just right off the back. Well, the next generation did make it in. But God knows. Enjoy where you’re at.
We got married. We were in that little trailer park, that little trailer, and it was in northwest Indiana. Hey, it gets cold up there. I’m talking about freezing. I mean, yeah, it’s freezing. I mean, I’m born in Tennessee, raised in Florida. I don’t like that cold weather. I mean, who—it’s cold up there. And those winters and those trailers, old trailers, they don’t have much insulation in those trailers. And we didn’t have enough money to heat up that whole trailer at night. So we would just—we would hang a blanket over our bedroom, and we would heat that back bedroom in the middle of the night. We’d leave everything out, let it get cold. We’re just going to heat our bedroom. Hey, we’re newlyweds. It’s more snuggling, amen? I mean, just to enjoy where you’re at. I mean, I don’t know how it is for you, but just—just, you know, that old lawnmower I had in that trailer, you know, it just is one of those you had to push, and, you know, and it turned—man, it gave me a good workout. Well, I don’t need to go to the gym. I got exercise. Come on. I don’t have to pay the fee on the gym. I got a lawnmower out there and push. I mean, just enjoy where you are. I just—I don’t know what it is for you.
“I wish I was a mature Christian.” Hey, enjoy the journey, enjoy learning. And after a while, you’re going to say, “Well, I heard everything Pastor Paul’s got to say. I mean, you know,” and it’ll be old and boring. Enjoy while you’re learning some of it, amen, you know. But wherever you’re at, enjoy it. Just enjoy the—you know, we didn’t get a house we wanted to, and I’m not saying do it like us for sure, but we didn’t get a house until we were married 10 years. We were like, “Oh, my goodness, why can’t we get a house?” Well, that’s where God had us, and we just had to accept it. And just enjoy wherever you’re at. I don’t know where it is for you in your Christian life. If you say, “Well, I wish I was married. If God gave me my spouse today,” well, enjoy being single. One day if you get married, you’re not going to be able to enjoy single life. Enjoy wherever you are. Well, these kids were out of the house, or one day you’re going to miss them. Just whatever stage in life, enjoy that stage.
If we’re not careful, you know how it is. The kindergartners, they look up to the first and second grade. They want to be that, you know. And first and second grade, they want to be sixth grade. You know, and you get to sixth grade, you want to be a junior, senior, senior in high school, you know. And you’re a junior, senior, you want to be in college, and you want to be a young adult, and then you want to be married. And you never enjoy where you’re at. Just enjoy where you’re at. This is where God has been.
I love to be in the promised land in Canaan tomorrow, but you know what? God might say, “You got some growing to do. Not ready for it.” It was God that led them. It was God. And by the way, we’re going to be in that new building one day over there. I’m going to say, “You know, I miss the days over there.” By the way, it’s harder to fill up a 400-seat auditorium than in this 224 seat. Hey, let’s enjoy the full house here, amen. I mean, but wherever you are, just enjoy it. It’s where God has us.
It was God that led them. Number two, learn to enjoy the journey that God has you on. Number three, just very simply, trust His leadership. He’s got a pretty good track record. As far as—no, He hasn’t been wrong one time. If I differ from Him, then I’m saying I know better than Him. And it’s all right to have your opinion, but, you know, at the end of the day, say, “You know, I don’t like this. I don’t necessarily agree with it. But God, You’re smarter than me. I’m going to go Your way.”
He’s got a real good track record, just trust His leadership. All right, Lord, You’ve got a plan. I’m just—I’m just going to accept You doing something. I just think You know what You’re doing, Lord. Now, it requires—when you disagree with God and you go His way and you try to go His way emotionally and mentally and everything, when you do that, it requires this word: faith. And faith pleases God.
And let me say, here’s sometimes what we do: What is my ultimate goal? To get where I want to be at? Or to please God? Well, God wants me over there. He wants you over there in His time. And if He has me here and requires faith for me to be patient and enjoy the journey and trust His leadership, then if my ultimate goal is to please Him instead of get where I want to be, I’ll be all right right here. That should be my goal, really—just to please the Lord. That’s what we ought to be about, just trusting Him. You know, and He often leads different than we think.
You ought to go back to those verses. Would you look—look back over there in chapter 13, Exodus 13, look in verse number 17. Just watch the way it’s worded. Exodus 13:17. You there tonight? Amen. Look how the word is saying, “And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not…” He doesn’t talk about how the way He led them first. He talks about the way He did not lead them. It’s almost like they’re like, “That’s the way to go.” And He said, “No, the Lord led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near.” To the way through the way of the Philistines, although that was near, for God said, “Lest the people repent when they see war and they return to Egypt.”
You know, it’s funny how God—He’s so often, He doesn’t go the way we think we ought to go. And it’s going to require faith, trust, and waiting on the Lord.
I am one more story. We’re going to go home, maybe get some sleep—don’t get sleep now, wait till we go home, maybe—but we had got out of Bible College, went to church in Alabama for a while. We were in L.A., lower Alabama, and then went to another ministry in Florida, then we went back up to college, and that was hard to do. I mean, northwest Indiana. Brother Howells used to say, that’s the armpit of America. It’s just not pretty up there. I mean, it’s cold, it’s ugly. Steel mills are all closed down, half of it. It’s just—it’s just Gary, Indiana, how about that? You know, it’s just not. But we moved back up there, and God was in that. He was leading us not the way we thought He should lead us, for sure. We were like, “Go back up there?” And the Lord was like, “Yeah.”
And we got back up there. I started applying for jobs, and there was a new company opening up, and they paid good money. It was just starting out, and they were like, “You can get in on the ground floor in this company,” you know. And I went and took all the tests, and, boy, it was just all—you know, the foreman’s going to be happy, pleased with this, and everything’s looking great, and just, you know, and, boy, they’re getting your head real fat, you know, and heavily—you’re doing testing good and all this stuff, you know. But no phone call. You know, like, “Lord, why? What’s going on?” And finally—by the way, it was great money. Well, there was one problem: since it was a new company, they weren’t going to start insurance until six months, and then you got to wait 30 days. You’ve got to work 30 days before you’re eligible. And it was going to be seven months. But we were making good money, and we wanted to get our finances debt-free before it came down and do whatever God wants to do.
And so I called. They weren’t going to call me in. They said all these good things. You’re supposed to call me. You ain’t called. So I called them. They were rude. They didn’t give me any reason, no reason at all. They’re just rude. You know, and I said, “What in the world? What happened to them? They, you know, wake up with a bad—wrong side of the bed this morning. What’s going on with him?” You know, it’s a bad day when your horn gets stuck behind the Hells Angels. You understand that, you know. You know, it’s a bad day when you find out your bad-tasting toothpaste is really preparation H. That’s just not a good day, you know. I don’t know where that one came from. Greg is like, “What in the world?” You know. I don’t know if that’s what happened to me, while they were just mean and rude and really didn’t give me any answer.
And so, all right, the Lord’s not letting us go the short route. So I went back to an old job, and it was a good job. Got insurance in 30 days. And just right after that, my life got very sick—surgeries, hospital visits. God knew. If I had taken that short route, that company just starting out, that big bucks and all that, I’d have been in thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars in debt.
Hey, friend, He knows. And they said, “God led them not the way of the Philistines.” He knows we’re not ready for that. We’ll take you the long route. Got a lot to do in the meantime.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Heads bowed, eyes closed. Just very quickly tonight. You said, “Preacher, somewhere along the line, some way, God—God spoke to my heart.” Maybe—maybe it’s God’s leading, God working. I don’t need to blame. Maybe learn to enjoy the journey, or just trust the Lord’s leadership. Somewhere along the line, God spoke to my heart. Somewhere along the line, preacher, God spoke to my heart. Somewhere along the line, God spoke to my heart. God bless you. God bless you. Me too. Me too. God bless you. Would you please stand? Would you please stand? We won’t be long tonight. We’re going to pray. Would you spend some time doing business with the Lord? Would you do that?
Father, thank You for this classic illustration You gave us about leading the children—Your people of Israel—down the long path. Help me, help us, Lord, to trust You. Lord, help us to enjoy the journey. Father, forgive me when I blame in my mind other people. Lord, You’re in control. Help me just to trust You. Help our people to do so, Lord. That’s a few minutes to hear with You. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - Why the long way - Wednesday PM 07192023