Truth #113 - God often takes on the long way instead of the direct way - Genesis 13-16

Exodus 13:17-18
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

The truth is, the path that God takes us on is not always the easiest or quickest, and that for our own good!!   When the nation of Israel was taken out of Egypt, God could have put them on the "expressway" to the Promise Land.    Yet, God knew something about this people.  Even going the rough route that they did, this generation of Israelites wanted to return to Egypt.  What would have had happen if all they had to do was a U-turn on the expressway.    God took them the long way because they still needed to grow and there were still lessons to learn.   There are many such examples of how God works, just like this, in much of Scripture.   For God to get take Joseph to Egypt to become second in command, there was a much quicker way.   Yet, God choose the slave traders, the accusation of a rape, and bitter, long years in a prison cell, to make Joseph what he was and needed to be in the land of Egypt.   God knew something about Joseph.    There would have been a quicker way to get Job to the point God wanted him.   Yet, through boils, bad friends and an argument with God, conducted over a long period of time, Job finally became what God wanted.   God knew something about Job.   God could have put David in the throne of the king in an easier manner.  But, shepherding the flocks, killing the giants, playing the harp for the king, fleeing from the king and leading a band of criminals through the mountains to escape that same king was what God used to make David what he needed to be.   God knew something about David.   God could have put Jeremiah in the best sit in the house to deliver his prophetic message.  Yet, God thought it best to have Jeremiah tossed into a pit.  He thought it best to have Daniel put into a lions den.  God thought it best to have Hosea marry an adulterous women.  He thought it best for Jonah to spend a few nights in the Hotel: Belly of the Fish.   God knew something about His prophets.   God knows something about us and knows that we often need to go one way, rather than the other to accomplish what God wanted to accomplish.   Paul and Barnabas could have split into two missionary teams without a strong argument about the welfare and employment of John-Mark.   Yet, God knew something about Paul and Barnabas and what was needed to make them into two entities.   God does not create arguments, evil, or bad health to make us or move us where He wants us.  But, He does use the evil in this world to accomplish His tasks.   God knows something about us and that knowledge means He knows to take us the long way home, rather than the short way ... least we have a temptation to return to our former state.   That is the truth about why our path looks long and winding, rather than short and direct.