Galatians 3:23-26

“Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

This morning’s devotional reading in the TableTalk Magazine (Legionier.org) is on Exodus 13:17-18. Today’s devotion is about God leading the Israelites out of Egypt by way of the wilderness by the Red Sea, instead of the quickest route that would have taken only less than a day’s walk. The editors of TableTalk Magazine’s commentary on this passage say,

“The easiest route for Israel to rake to the promised land of Canaan would have been the Via Maris, an ancient trading route that ran along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and connected Egypt with Syria and other lands north of Canaan. To take the portion of this route to Canaan from Egypt would have required Israel to travel about twelve kilometers or seven and a half miles, a journey of less than a day. As we read in today’s passage, however, God did not lead His people to Canaan along this path, referred to in Exodus 13:17 as the ‘way of the land of the Philistines.’ Exodus refers to the road this way because the Via Maris passed through the western part of Canaan, the location of the Philistine cities that caused Israel so much trouble in the days of the judges…Knowing that the Israelites were not prepared to fight and would run back to Egypt if they encountered trouble, the Lord took them to Canaan not by the shortest possible route but by the longer ‘way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea’ (vv. 17-18).”

Sometimes, I really do not know and understand why I have the path of pain and sorrow in my life. I pray fervently, passionately, consistently, and hopefully that my Lord God would please take this cup of sorrow from me; but, nevertheless, not my will, thy will be done.

Walking by faith requires us to trust God with our lives, all of our lives, and unconditionally. We may not understand because our journey for us may be difficult and at times exhausting. We may think our journey should be easier and not as burdensome as it really is. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he was arrested and taken to trial, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). As our Lord Jesus Christ prayed, so should we. Oh, if only we could live in confidence like the hymn writer said during his walk of faith, in the darkest hour of his life:

“When peace like a river attendeth my ways. When sorrow like sea billows roar. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well, with my soul!”

But God’s ways are higher than our ways. God took the Israelites by the ‘way of the wilderness’ to avoid a potentially more difficult and discouraging route than what they were on. The application of the Word of God to our lives is faith-building. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” We receive this precious gift of faith by reading the Word of God. This is a grace gift to undeserving sinners. And even more so, we also grow in our faith by reading the Word. In other words, our life of faith is totally by grace, which is a work of God. This is not of my own doing; this is a work of God (John 1:11-13). We do not have faith apart from God. There is nothing within me that I can do to muster up faith within myself (John 1:11-13). God, and God alone who is worthy to receive all glory, honor, and praise, gives to each of us our measure of faith that is due. So for His glory, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17)! And we know through Scripture, that “without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

I label “Blind Faith and Following God” as a spiritual discipline because, from my point of view, this requires practice; in that, faith is planted in believers by God and is cultivated by the Holy Spirit in combination with the spiritual disciplines that have already been discussed thus far: Bible reading, Bible verse memorization, Bible verse meditation, prayer, and now faith-building and following God. In this way, we can easily see that spiritual disciplines are built up together. They are not reserved just for pastors and church leaders but are a requirement for all Christians. But some may raise the question, isn’t this burdensome? Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). Yes, we will have to make life-changing decisions. That’s what repentance is in the life of a Christian. I am in retirement. I have a full product life. I have friends and I have daily work or chores that I must do to take care of my small little, but precious farm. I also have responsibilities at my church where I use my spiritual gifts: to nurture and build up others in their faith. Nevertheless, I chose, by faith in obedience to God’s Word, to trust Him and He will give me all the desires of my heart. My desire is not to accumulate more stuff and busy myself by going places and shopping for things I do not need. My desire, my only desire, is, “whether I eat, drink, or whatever I do, do all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

We do struggle in our Christian walk of faith. There are sudden bumps and turns that seem to turn us upside down. We toil and labor like we are traveling through a wilderness. And spiritually speaking on this side of heaven, so we are. Nevertheless, in our faith journey, we persevere to perfect our faith. James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” And then again in 1 Peter 1:6-7, “ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Both of these passages show us that our faith, the perfect gift from God from which we are saved and live to glorify him, is tested and purified. Our Lord God and Savior does not leave us as infants and defenseless in this world that is dominated by the presence of sin and the forces of evil, our common enemy and foe. God gives us faith. And why is this precious gift of faith so important? The answer is plainly seen in Scripture in 1 John 5:4, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

This is my lifelong faith journey. I may not understand all the ways that God is leading me, but I press on by faith. I hope in my faith journey as I trust God and His care, I do give all honor, glory, and praise to Him. The following hymn by Charles Albert Tindley (1905) is taken from today’s devotion. I remember this hymn growing up as a child.

1 Trials dark on ev’ry hand,
and we cannot understand
All the ways that God would lead us
to that blessed Promised Land;
But He’ll guide us with His eye,
and we’ll follow till we die;
We will understand it better by and by.

Chorus:
By and by, when the morning comes,
When the saints of God are gathered home,
We will tell the story how we’ve overcome;
We will understand it better by and by

2 Oft our cherished plans have failed,
disappointments have prevailed,
And we’ve wandered in the darkness,
heavyhearted and alone;
But we’re trusting in the Lord,
and according to His Word,
We will understand it better by and by. [Chorus]

3 Temptations, hidden snares
often take us unawares,
And our hearts are made to bleed
for some thoughtless word or deed,
And we wonder why the test
when we try to do our best,
But we’ll understand it better by and by. [Chorus]