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.” Exodus 13:17 | NIV
The human nature always wants a shortcut, but in bringing Israel out of Egypt, God chose to lead them through a long road. God's reason for doing this was because the people were not war ready and may return to Egypt in the event of a war. This is a principle that God adopts in dealing with His people through all ages. He never gives them what they are not ready for, even though in most times, they want to have them in their own time. Many unanswered prayers are caused by us wanting things that God knows we are not ready to handle at the time we are asking for them and because He knows that giving it to us at such times will be harmful to us, therefore, He withholds it from us.
In Genesis 2:5, we see this principle on display: "When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not [yet] caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground." Because there were no people to till the ground, God withheld the rain from falling, and when the people of Israel got to the Promise Land, we see this principle again at work. This time, God didn't give them the whole land because they were few and could be endangered by wild animals.
God is concerned about our welfare and will not give us everything we ask for until He knows that we are ready for them. Even we human parents know how not to give our children gifts that they are not physically and mentally prepared to handle because we love them, how much more God. Is it possible that the delay that we are experiencing is a direct result of our not being prepared to handle what we are asking for? God will not withhold from us any good thing, yet, He will only give them to us when He knows that we are ready for them.
Toni
The human nature always wants a shortcut, but in bringing Israel out of Egypt, God chose to lead them through a long road. God's reason for doing this was because the people were not war ready and may return to Egypt in the event of a war. This is a principle that God adopts in dealing with His people through all ages. He never gives them what they are not ready for, even though in most times, they want to have them in their own time. Many unanswered prayers are caused by us wanting things that God knows we are not ready to handle at the time we are asking for them and because He knows that giving it to us at such times will be harmful to us, therefore, He withholds it from us.
In Genesis 2:5, we see this principle on display: "When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not [yet] caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground." Because there were no people to till the ground, God withheld the rain from falling, and when the people of Israel got to the Promise Land, we see this principle again at work. This time, God didn't give them the whole land because they were few and could be endangered by wild animals.
God is concerned about our welfare and will not give us everything we ask for until He knows that we are ready for them. Even we human parents know how not to give our children gifts that they are not physically and mentally prepared to handle because we love them, how much more God. Is it possible that the delay that we are experiencing is a direct result of our not being prepared to handle what we are asking for? God will not withhold from us any good thing, yet, He will only give them to us when He knows that we are ready for them.
Toni
