The Mystery of God's Leading
“God led them ?iot through the way of the land of the Philistines although that was near... but God led the people about through the way of the wilderness.” — Exod. xiii. 17-18.
Why is it that I am not suffered to come to Thee by the near way? wherefore am I forced to seek the promised land through the longest road — the road of the wilderness? There are times when I almost seemed to have reached Thee at a bound. There are flashes of thought in which I appear to have escaped the wilderness and to have entered already into Thy rest. I am caught up to meet Thee in the air, and the world fades away in the far distance, and I am alone with Thyself. But the rapture and the solitude are short-lived. The world returns again with double power, and a cloud falls over the transfiguration glory; and at the very moment when I am saying, “Methinks it is good to be here,” a voice whispers in my car, “Go back, and take the journey through the wilderness.”
My soul, thou must not murmur at that message; it is a message of love to thee, and a message of love to the wilderness. Thou hast need of the wilderness, and the wilderness has need of thee. There are thorns in the desert which must be gathered ere she can rejoice and blossom as the rose, and the gathering of her thorns shall be the gathering of flowers to thee. Thou canst not do without the thorn. To be caught up to meet thy Lord in the air would be too much exaltation; it would lift thee above the sympathies of the toiling crowd. Better to meet thy Lord in the wilderness than in the air. Thou wilt find him travelling by the long road — the road of Gethsemane and Calvary. Join thyself to the journey of the Son of man. Help Him to carry His burden of human care over the wastes of time. Enter into fellowship with that cross of His which was the pain of seeing pain, and verily love shall make the long road short; thy feet shall be as the feet of the roe; the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places shall be made plain; for the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and the glory of the Lord is love.