It amazes me how much we rely on instant gratification nowadays. When we have a headache, we take some Advil and get annoyed when it takes more than fifteen minutes to work. When we see something we like, many times we go buy it... Even if it is beyond our means. When we watch a YouTube video and it starts buffering, we give up and watch something else. When we see a friend of ours going through a hard time, we try our hardest to fix it so they don't have to feel sad anymore.
We don't like to feel pain or anxiety and we don't like to be patient. Whatever is the quickest route away from those feelings is usually the best in our eyes.
But the quickest way isn't always the best way.
I've been reading through Exodus and just got done reading about the Passover and the Lord freeing the Israelites from the slavery of the Egyptians. In Exodus 12 it says that Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for a whopping 430 years. There were over 600,000 of God's people who had never known anything but bondage. They had heard of a promise that God had made to their forefathers about their people one day being granted freedom in the "promised land," but it really didn't seem like a possibility after being in Egypt for so long. Nevertheless, through the eventual softening of Pharaoh's heart after many devastating plagues, God finally gave His chosen people the freedom they'd been longing for and sent them toward the promised land. But this journey to the promised land would be a little different than they had probably expected... I find Exodus 13:17-18 to be pretty interesting.
"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..."
So even though the route through the Philistine country would've been a short cut, God intentionally led them another way. It doesn't mention it here, but I imagine the Israelites being annoyed and uncertain as to why God was taking them this way. After all their time in captivity, they just wanted a place to call home and to feel comfortable. But God knew what they actually needed. Not only did this longer route make it so that Israel could avoid warfare and possible bloodshed, but it also led to one of the most famous and God-glorifying stories in the Bible - Moses parting the Red Sea.
There are so many times in life when we want to take the easy way out of tough and uncomfortable situations, whether that would be settling for something less than we deserve, telling a white lie to appease another person, or choosing a "safe" choice over a challenging one. To be honest, I do this all the time, but God has been revealing to me lately that easier isn't always better. Quicker isn't always more beneficial. God's concept of time is so much different than ours - He doesn't rush anything. His timing is perfect. If we are able to take a second to ask God which direction HE wants us to go, it is likely that we will remain in our struggle or our pain for a little while longer, but it is also likely that He will glorify Himself through us in ways that we can never begin to imagine.
Praying that you may be able to apply this teaching from God to different areas in your life. It's not easy, and it doesn't always turn out how we plan, but I guarantee that if you keep your heart and eyes open to God's work around you, He will make His plans for your life known to you.
