Trinity Angela Chanel | Living Offensively
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Christian Devotionals
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×´I believe God is offering a different path. A path where He can bring healing to our deep wounds. A path where He can bring freedom from strongholds. A path where He can tell us where the traps are and we can step right over them. He can provide wise strategies before we come face to face with difficult circumstances. He can teach us what spiritual weapons to use and when to use them, to not only fight battles, but win battles! And this is how we can live free to do all that God has created us for."
- Trinity Angela Chanel
Exodus 13:18 "So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle."
"Walk through." I heard this in my mind as the pain of the heartbreak was ripping my heart apart. I thought I loved him. I thought he was the man I was going to spend my future with, but the enemy had used my feelings and deep desire for a husband against me. Thankfully, God opened my eyes to the truth, this man was not in my future. But it didn't negate the pain I was feeling at that present moment. As I prayed to God to heal the pain, He instructed me to walk through. I had to allow myself to walk through the pain, there was no shortcut.
We are all familiar with the messy middle in our lives. We may be in the middle of transitioning to a new job, transitioning our eldest child from high school to college, middle of raising our sarcastic teenagers, middle of a relationship, a marriage, identity, or purpose. The middle represents the point where you aren't where you were, but you still haven't made it to where you want to be. The middle becomes messy and chaotic. When I was going through heartbreak, I couldn't wait to get to the other side of healing, but the Holy Spirit made it extremely clear, I had to walk through.
I wonder if the Israelites experienced the same feelings I did...puzzled, frustrated, and hopeless. They couldn't wait to get to the Promise Land, the land flowing with milk and honey. I could only imagine that they wanted the blessing God was promising them...without having to walk through the messy middle. Exodus 13:17-18 tells us this, "When Pharoah finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through the Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, "If the poeple are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." So, God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle."
Did you catch that? There was indeed a shorter path to the Promise Land, but God instructed them to go another way. He knew something they didn't, He knew of a battle ahead of them they were not yet ready for. So, they had to walk through the wilderness. They had to experience the messy middle. They were no longer in Egypt, but they had not yet reached the Promised Land. But imagine if they hadn't walked through the middle and God led them directly to the Promised Land...what would have been missed? They wouldn't have experienced God's provision (providing manna from Heaven). They wouldn't have have seen God's protection (parting the Red Sea and wiping out the Egyptians). They wouldn't have known God's power (striking a rock with water gushing out).
Friends, although the middle is messy and doesn't feel good, we can rest assured that God is having each of us walk through for good reasons. We may not even know those reasons, but we can trust they are good becuase our Father is good. One last thing I want to touch on in this scripture. It stated that the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle. Which is interesting as God said if He would had led them through the main path, they would face a battle and change their minds. Another translation says "they left Egypt in military formation". Although they were not an army yet ready to face an unknown battle, that does not mean they were not positioned as one.
How we are positioned in the middle matters. As I walked through the middle of my painful heartbreak, I had to position myself under God's authority. He provided daily instructions to follow, scripture to stand on, and His Presence to strengthen me. God could have healed my pain at any point, but then I would have still been too vulnerable for my next season. I wouldn't have had His wisdom, His grace, and His love to move forward. He may have healed the pain I was feeling quickly, but it wouldn't have healed the bitterness and hatred I would have carried. Let's not negate what God wants to do in our hearts in the messy middle. The middle is there to strengthen us for what's next. It's there to deep our relationship with our Heavenly Father, drawing us closer to Him. It's there to prune our hearts, preparing us for our next season. So friends, learn to embrace the middle, even if it's messy.