“Destruction is certain for my rebellious children,” says the Lord. “You make plans that are contrary to my will. You weave a web of plans that are not from my Spirit, thus piling up your sins.” – Isaiah 30:1

 

How easy it is to become entrapped by the natural way of thinking and to craft ways of doing things that completely leave out the Holy Spirit! Egypt looked very enticing to those who were desperate for help, but God told them that trusting in Egypt’s pharaoh for protection would only bring them humiliation and disgrace (Isaiah 30:3). The Holy Spirit has a better plan for you than to take you by way of Egypt!

Following the Spirit carries a price: “And we who are born of the Holy Spirit are persecuted by those who want us to keep the law, just as Isaac, the child of promise, was persecuted by Ishmael, the son of the slave-wife” (Galatians 4:29). It will be the same for you if you refuse the world’s way of thinking. If you don’t solve your problems the “normal way”—the way the world or religion tells you to—you will be persecuted.

God’s ways are not your ways. Before you plow into a crisis armed only with worldly advice, it would profit you to wait on the Holy Spirit for His direction. “I wait quietly before God, for my salvation comes from him” (Psalm 62:1).

Egypt may look tempting, but put your hope in God alone!