Let God Confuse Your Enemy - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) June 7, 2024

When God freed the Israelites from Egypt, He led them on a specific path. The Bible tells us that He had them use the desert road that led toward the Red Sea (Exodus 13:18). And yet, in Exodus 14:2, we are told He had them change direction and go backward.

If He knew the way He wanted them to take, why send them in the direction they had come from? Imagine a group of close to a million people - young and old - walking with their belongings through the desert sand. Why make things complicated for them?

The Bible explains God's reasoning in Exodus 14:3 - Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ Although Pharaoh would think the Israelites were lost, the real purpose of God's plan was to confuse Pharaoh. And not only to confuse him but also to make him feel pompous, stiff-necked, and overconfident so that he would hasten his attempt to recapture the Israelites. The end result was that Pharaoh believed in his intelligence and the might of his army. This led to them drowning in the Red Sea.

God is in the business of confusing your enemies. And when He applies this war strategy, it may be confusing to you too. The key, however, is to trust Him and remember His word in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 - But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

The Sovereign Lord knows how to use what appears foolish to confuse and destroy those who see themselves as wise. And when He is doing this in your life, submit to Him because His ways are higher than yours and so He knows better (Isaiah 55:8-9).

People will look at your situation and be confounded but so too will be the enemy. Oh, it will think it is having its way with you but just as it is on the edge of supposed success, God's endgame will result in the enemy's destruction and your victory, just as was the case for the Israelites who made it safely through the Red Sea.

So if you're in a tight spot that doesn't make sense and the Lord is calling you to do something that makes even less sense, obey. Remember the instruction from Job 22:21 - Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you" (ESV). Let God use the foolish things of this world to confound and destroy your enemy - satan - and its evil plans for your life.

Be sure to come back at Noon EST for fellowship. God bless you.