Isaiah 30:1-3 (NLT)
"What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the LORD. "You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins. For without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection. You have tried to hide in his shade. But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated, and by depending on him, you will be disgraced."
“It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials. Through every [trial] he brings our way, he wants us to unlearn something. His purpose is to simplify our beliefs until our relationship with him is exactly like that of a child.” – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, July 29
The world conditions us to think a certain way, act a certain way, and to pick up the pieces in a certain way when trials come. Common sense tells us some of these things as well. Our own human nature. So when a crisis comes, we go with our gut feeling in resolving it.
God (like he always does) has a different plan though. The phrase “faith like a child” is fun to say and to preach about but in the midst of heart-wrenching pain, it is anything but a natural reaction.
My adult chain-reaction when pain hits me goes something like this: My first impulse is to shut down momentarily. My second impulse is to try to fix it. My third impulse is to tell someone else about it. By someone else I mean another person. My first impulse is never to pray or dig into my Bible.
My child-like chain-reaction when pain hits me goes something like this: Run to Mom or Dad. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. There is only one step. Run to Mom or Dad. As we read in the passage above, Israel had the same reaction to pain. They ran to something tangible. Something they could see and feel. While God was waiting with open arms to rescue his people, they chose the Pharaoh and suffered much for it.
I believe this is what God means when he constantly says throughout his word to take refuge in him and to trust in him and to not lean on our own understanding.
God MUST be our first line-of-defense when pain comes. Doing everything humanly possible and then praying about it not only shows our lack of faith in an omnipotent Father but it also just makes no sense.
