Morning by Morning, January 23 - "The Roundabout Way of the Wilderness"
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I willingly choose to completely yield to Your Lordship in every area of my life, as best as I can and all by Your grace. Help me start off my day with the right heart and live it out all day in the power and by the leading of Your Spirit abiding within me. ...
"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, 'If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.' So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle" (Exodus 13:17).
Just as You knew the heart of the people of Israel when You brought them up out of their bondage in Egypt, through the wilderness, and all along their journey to the Promise Land, You know my heart. You know my every weakness and every desire; You know my every struggle and every hope. You know me infinitely better than I think I know myself.
And You also know my enemy -- the enemy of my soul who comes to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). You already see every one of his plans and schemes get me to turn back or turn away from the fullness of Your promises and abundance of the life You have for me, both now in this age and in the age to come. So sometimes You lead me "by the roundabout way of the wilderness" -- all the while preparing me for battle and preparing me to appreciate and embrace all the promises You long to fulfill in my life.
God, Give me grace to embrace Your map for the journey of my life. Help me never get stranded and stuck in the valley of doubt and unbelief, doubting Your goodness and not believing Your faithfulness to bring me though every challenge and even using every battle to grow me up into spiritual maturity. That's the very purpose of this roundabout journey -- that I would be conformed into the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29).
It may seem like there's a better way, a shorter way, a more direct way than the way You're leading me. But even if I made it, to whatever destination I thought was the goal of my journey, I wouldn't be like Jesus when I got there. I would have missed the whole point -- "because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17).
It's on the journey of "the roundabout way of the wilderness" that "all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.... (where) we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:13-15). So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I give myself to the journey You've chosen for me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My Friend, I pray for God's grace to stir in your heart to embrace the journey of spiritual maturity He has planned for you -- especially through the times that seem like a longer way or a harder way into the promises He's spoken by His Word and into your spirit. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Praying for you,
Tommy
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257
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