I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

Exodus 13. “ 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” (Verses 17-18). God had just taken them out of slavery and brought them to freedom. Yet their hearts would have been so easily swayed? So much so that God took the long cut?! The parallel between the human heart then and now is not that different at all. We want God to save us, but we want no pain and no sacrifice with it. We would that He would simply life us out of our bad circumstance and put us in a good one, with now work, no effort on our part. The problem with that is this: If we don’t learn from the trial we will be bound to repeat the mistakes that got us there. The journey although longer (for Israel) was necessary. For it is in the desert that God would separate the wheat from the chaff. It is in the desert that they would finally understand that He is God. The same is true for us, it is in our desert times that we realize that God is GOD.