The shortest road isn't always the best road. Neither is the easiest road the one we should always take. Often the long, hard road is the one from which we emerge different, better. 

My dad and brother have been notorious for taking the "scenic route" which translates as "the trip that takes two hours longer than if you had taken the direct route". 

This has especially been the case when we were in Colorado on vacation. I suspect their alternate path is chosen not because they enjoy making more miles, but because there are more mule deer and elk on the longer trip. Simply put, they believe the longer path is more beautiful...That it has more to offer. 

Too bad that on those trips I'd often get bored, or worse, carsick. The routes we took were also usually without a place to go to the bathroom. Might I also mention that their preferred routes also involved creepy one-car dirt paths that slithered up the mountain. As far as I could tell, on one side (six feet away) there was the side of a mountain. On the other side was a cliff; a death view. 

The reason the travels of my growing up have crossed my mind is because two curious verses caught my attention in Exodus last week. 

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. Exodus 13

How in the world have I missed this? 

So you're telling me that a large caravan of tired people on foot being chased by angry men with chariots (600 of the best chariots) were led intentionally on the long escape route? It's a little hard to understand. 

And on the desert road? That just sounds needlessly uncomfortable. 

Not only that, but was there a route that avoided the sea for a group of people without boat tickets? (...God led the people...toward the Red Sea). I wonder if they knew (or even if Moses knew) they were taking the long route? What were they thinking when they approached the sea. Humanly speaking, I can't think of a situation where someone was more "up creek without a paddle". 

Maybe I've always glossed over this part because I knew the short version via flannel graph where Moses leads the Israelites away from Egypt and to the Red Sea where he holds up his hand and the waters part killing the enemy. 

We're familiar with the Isrealites and their time in slavery and we know the climax where the divided waters allow them pass through, but I think there's something important to be gained in the part where we learn true escape isn't simple. 

It was hard to get out of Egypt in the first place. But then they had to take the long, terrifying route. 

Why would God plan that? (It was indeed his plan). 

Because he knew that if he didn't lead them on this particular path, they would return to the bondage that they had just gotten out of. 

He purposely didn't lead them through the Philistine country, remarking in verse 17 

"If (in Philistine country) they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt". 

God, in his omniscience, knew that the short escape might lead them right back to where the came from. 

Near the sea, the Israelites doubt  God and announce their preference of being in slavery versus the long, terrifying road leading away from it (Exodus 14: 10-12). 

Aren't we like that? Sometimes, in fear and fatigue, we prefer bondage. 

God responds with one of my favorite verses. 

The LORD will fight for you; you only need to be still. Exodus 14:14

What are you in bondage to?

Are you trusting God to lead you out of it even though the road seems long and hard? 

God isn't interested in the short escape; just getting away. (Think of all things we escape and then go right back to.) He's more interested in deliverance. 

Whatever long road you believe God has you journeying away from chains, trust him. It's not just about escape. God crushes the enemy. God delivers.