Preaching Series: Detours (Divine Wandering)

Here is a four part series based on my most recent message at Hope Missionary Church, where I serve as Pastor of Engagement and Young Adults.

This is part 3/4.

If you are interested, you can watch the message HERE.

The text was Exodus 13:17 - 14:31.

Detours: Dealing with Dead-Ends

DETOUR 2 - DIVINE WANDERING

As the Israelites are going the way of the wilderness, towards the Red Sea, we are told, “they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.” Then they do something strange.

Exodus 14:1-2 says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites to turn back (emphasis mine) and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.’”

Wait. Turn back! Why?

God answers that pretty quickly, “Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’”

The Israelites are doing what I like to call divine wandering. The Israelites are clearly wandering in this moment at God’s direction. But not all wandering is divine.

All you have to do is turn over a few pages in your bible and you’ll see the Israelites wandering again. Except this time it is for 40 years. And it is due to their disobedience.

Sometimes, we wander because of disobedience.

There was a time in my life when I was so lost. I was a recent college graduate working for a public record research firm in Michigan. I was on the path of success. This company saw potential in me. So, they created a position just for me. My task was to jump around from department to department. For the summer I led a government contract doing title searches on foreclosed properties. In the fall I began to travel around with the field searchers so that I could understand the complexities of their job, the common issues they run into, etc. By the winter I was in our investigative research department learning how we perform background checks for employers. In the spring I was sitting in the client services department taking phone calls, correcting mistakes, and getting to know our outside partners. All of this in an effort to give me a broad perspective of the company. Eventually, when the time was right, I would be placed in a management position. Except, that would never come to pass. Because several years prior, I had received a very clear call to full-time ministry. Although my life looked like it was all together, I was actually at one of the lowest points in my life. A relationship that didn’t quite work out, a job that once was exciting no longer gave me any passion, and deep down I felt lost. I was wandering. This was far from the path the Lord had called me to. There is no way this could be labeled “divine wandering.” I was wandering due to disobedience.

But sometimes we wander for no reason at all.

In this same season of life I was just referencing, a person I worked with decided to raffle off a trifle. She was famous for her sweet treats and was offering one up for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. The highest bidder would receive the trifle of their choice and all proceeds would go to a charity. I won the bid. I was the proud owner of a $95 trifle. I messaged in the family chat that I would be providing the dessert. We are all gathered at my parents when my sister says, “Eric, where is the trifle?”  

Oh shoot. I forgot the trifle in the fridge at work. I just spent $95 on this stupid dessert. You know I’m not leaving it there. So, my dad offers to drive me the roughly 30 minute drive back to my place of employment so we could get the trifle. Since he offered to drive I figured, “I guess I don’t need my car keys.” So I left them at my parents. Only to remember about halfway through the drive that my office keys are on my key chain with the car keys. In shame and embarrassment, I told my dad to turn around. But I was still determined to get this trifle. After we got back, I grabbed my keys and took the journey alone. I retrieved the trifle around midnight and decided to sleep at my apartment up the road instead of return to my parents late at night. I put the trifle in my fridge and set about 10 alarms on my phone for the next morning not to forget the trifle.

I made it home, we all enjoyed the trifle, and it still gets brought up just about every time the family is together. God did not divinely orchestrate that night of wandering. I did not wander due to a sin in my life or because of my disobedience. I simply wandered because we live in a fallen world, and sometimes, we wander due to circumstances that are outside of our control. 

Yet, there is a wandering that is divinely orchestrated. And that is where the Israelites find themselves. 

Sometimes we divinely wander.

Pharaoh thought to himself, “The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.” But God is telling Moses, “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them.”

You may feel like you are wandering.

It may be due to disobedience. There may be a sin pattern in your life that you have not offered to Him. You may be filled with anger, hate, or bitterness towards that person who hurt you and you’re not willing to forgive them. You may be running from something God has called you to do. If this is you, the solution is rather simple. I said simple, not easy.

Confess your sins to Jesus. Flee from the sin pattern.

Forgive the person who hurt you, whether they recognize the hurt or not. Because the continued hurt of unforgivenness in your own heart can do more damage than the initial hurt caused by the other person.

Or stop running from what God has called you to do and trust that He knows what is best.

If you are wandering due to things that are out of your control, like a forgotten trifle, just laugh it off and keep moving forward.

But if your wandering is divinely orchestrated, if your wandering is because you are doing your best to follow God, and you’re just confused about where you are, I have some good news for you.

Exodus 14:14 says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

If you are divinely wandering, then God will provide the way out. Even if it seems like you have hit a dead-end.

Stay tuned for part 4 of the series…