Warning! Caution! Dead End! If we were to see any of these signs while driving on the road we would certainly take a moment to evaluate the direction that we were headed. If you set out for a long trip and you saw a sign that read ‘bridge out ahead’ you would chart a different route for your trip.
Many times we look at life the same as driving a car; as long as we don’t see any warning or danger signs we take that as a sign that we are going in the right direction. The problem is that life is much more complicated than taking a road trip! There are many times that in life there are few signs as to whether someone is heading in the right directions or not – just because something seems to be the right decision and just because it seems your decision makes the most sense does not necessarily mean that you are going in the direction that God wants you to go.
Just because your decision to go to the world seems to be going great remember, there IS bread in Egypt!
- When your decision to follow God feels like a dead-end
Exodus 16:2,3 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
God had just brought the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt and they quickly began to run into trouble. If it had been God’s will that the Israelites leave Egypt wouldn’t He make it obvious by clearing any ‘road-blocks’? Sometimes following God and stepping out on faith is not always followed by a smooth ride. Sometimes you look back at when you were in the world and remember having your belly full and wonder what God is doing now. Imagine if the Israelites had settled for the bread in Egypt! Think of all of the times the Israelites were able to see the mighty hand of God at work. So much would have been missed out on if the Israelites settled for the bread that was in Egypt.
- When the world offers a fast-track to success
Genesis 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
Abraham was busing doing what God had told him to do when disaster stuck. Abraham was doing his very best to follow the Lord and in spite of all of that Abraham found himself in the middle of a famine. Sometimes living the christian life comes with sacrifices. That is not to say that years down the road Abraham wouldn’t become the father of the greatest nation on earth.
Sometimes in life rain will fall, but we know that our situation will not always be bleak. God promises to those that love Him that all things will work together for good (Romans 8:28). It is also important to remember that going the way of the world does not always mean destruction right away. Sometimes, there IS bread in Egypt. It is in times of hardship that we must remember that God is bigger and God is greater than all the treasures this world has to offer!
