BEWARE OF ALTERNATIVES
Hebrews 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
In 2020 when I had COVID-19 in Ghana after our mission outreaches, myself and my companion stayed in a town located beside the Atlantic ocean. From the balcony of our house, I saw big ships, passenger boats and other vessels. The scenery was beautiful. Anytime I saw those boats, I was tempted to quit isolation and escape through the water ways. I was told the
there was a station where one could buy ticket to Nigeria. I was told the journey would last four days on the sea. I was homesick because I felt confined and stuck to routines. The expectation of health officials and airline operators was that one must test negative before embarking on any trip outside the country. At a time, I became very impatient with the process of waiting so l was ready to explore illegal exit opportunities and escape routes. I knew it may affect my passport because there would be no immigration officer to stamp out my passport but I got to the point where I almost didn't care about what the consequences may be. Thank God I didn't.
The second option I had was to go to the border and walk across on foot, then take bike from Togo to Nigeria. There'll be no one to stamp out my passport because it was an illegal route. I may escape the pain of waiting to test negative but i would not escape the problems of not stamping out my Int'l passport may create. I was tempted to exit illegally. In all, I thank God I waited patiently till I tested negative. There's a lesson in that story for us all. When God is taking us through a process especially the ones that involve waiting patiently, ungodly exit options will present itself and those around you may suggest it. That's when you have to be extra careful so that you won't miss God's appointed time and perfect solution. If I had escaped isolation through the sea or through illegal borders, it won't cure or change my condition. I'll only experience a change of environment but the problem would have persisted at least for sometime. Not all exit options or alternatives are godly. For example, it is easy to compromise on sexual purity to satisfy a man who is saying "If you don't sleep with me, I won't marry you". Some compromised and got married through that route but ask what has become of their marriage today. The devil is skilled at showing to us how juicy it is to explore his alternatives but he won't show us the aftermath pain and sorrow that comes with it.
Whenever God permits us to have wilderness experience and it seems the exit road is getting longer daily, He is using time to process and make us better. God could have taken the children of Israel through a shorter route to the promised land but the bible says: "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”, Ex13:17. God's intention was to take them through the wilderness for 40 days so as to prepare them militarily for the conquest of Canaan. If they had gone to Canaan through the 3 days route, they'll get to Canaan but not as a conqueror. They'll be subservient to the Canaanites again after their servitude in Egypt. It would be from slavery to slavery. When the devil present to us quick exit options in our waiting times, we'll miss out on divine lessons and equipping if we yield. Job knew this truth that's why he said: "If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come", Job14:14.
PRAYER POINT: I receive the grace to wait and shun ungodly alternatives in Jesus name.