Exodus 23:20-22(NLT)
“20 See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you. 21 Pay close attention to him, and obey his instructions. Do not rebel against him, for he is my representative, and he will not forgive your rebellion. 22 But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you.”
Through the Children of Israel in the Old Testament, God teaches us lessons too many to count about His provision, protection, and power. Through these lessons, we see God’s faithfulness and His desire for a family. We also see many of the mistakes God’s people made when it comes to trusting Him and obeying His Word. As He demonstrated His mighty power, He performed many miracles for them, yet, these miracles did not cause them to trust Him as completely as they should have. This is such a lesson for those of us today. Witnessing God’s miracles do not necessarily cause our minds and hearts to change.
Through the psalmist in Psalm 119:105, God tells us that His Word is a lamp to guide our feet and a light for our paths. The path you and I are on is not one laid by us, but by God. He told the Children of Israel in Deuteronomy 5:33 to stay on the path that He commanded them to follow. In Hebrews 12:1, He commands us to run with endurance the race that He has marked out for us. This race that you and I are running in life belongs to God, and He knows everything there is to know about it. In Exodus 23:20, we learn that He will even send angels ahead of us to protect us as we keep our feet on His path.
God is leading us to a place that He has prepared for us. Praise the Lord! You and I may not know all the details about where we’re headed, but we know that God is directing and guiding us along the way. It is so important that we don’t let the darts and tricks of the enemy knock us off the path or block our spiritual hearing and seeing, so that we can’t perceive God’s directives.
God sent the angel to go ahead of His people because He knew they would face enemies. He knew that the way would have some challenges. It’s the same with us. We will face hiccups along the path, but we can’t allow fear or any other emotion to distract us. Many of us have developed a habit pattern of being governed by our emotions. If we get up in the morning feeling sad, we allow the sadness to dictate our entire day. If someone does something to upset us or hurt our feelings, we internalize this by letting it ruin our spirits. The devil sees this and knows it’s a vulnerability that he can use against us repeatedly. If we are not careful, the enemy will use feelings to take and keep us out of the Will of God.
Spiritual maturity begs us to let Christ steer our lives, not our emotions. We must take heed and pray for revelation in this area. God wants our hearts to change so that we are not leaning on Him simply because He works miracles, but because He is our God—our Heavenly Father, and we will trust Him to bring His Word to pass in His perfect timing. No matter what the condition, or what the circumstances look like, we must obey His Word. Obeying His Word is the condition of the promise He made to handle our enemies and move obstacles out of our way.
We can’t become afraid about going to the new place God is taking us to. Will it be an easy time of it? It may not be. Will the road be rocky? Probably so, but God has made a way and we must trust this. Whether it’s challenges surrounding a new relationship, promotion, job, car, or house, God is taking us to a new level of faith and trust in Him, and we must stand firm on His promises and obey His Word.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Stand Firm on the Promises of God”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.