“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.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.” (Ex 13:17-18NIV)
One of the things we must never have assumptions about is our readiness to handle our duties, challenges or opportunities. Otherwise, those assumptions may be very costly.
A student, for instance, that assumes that he is ready for an examination that he is not ready for will fail terribly. And a boxer that assumes that he is ready for an opponent that he is not ready for may lose his life in the ring, even before the fight is over. Then a job seeker that assumes that he is ready for an interview that he is not ready for may end up embarrassing himself and whoever recommends him. And a man that assumes that he is ready for marriage, when he is not ready for it, may end up messing his life and the lives of other people up.
So, if we want to save ourselves from unnecessary embarrassment and failure in life, we must never engage in anything we are not most certain we are ready to handle. And one way to do that is to possess sufficient knowledge of the nature of challenges, duties or opportunities before us and also a true appreciation of our abilities to handle them. If we don’t know the enormousness of what is before us, we cannot claim to be ready to handle it. Also, if we have no true appreciation of our abilities, we cannot tell whether we are well able to handle whatever is before us that requires handling or not.
For instance, in our opening bible text, we are told that on the day that the Israelites went out of Egypt, they went out ready for battle. And were they actually ready for battle? Well, in their own estimation, they were ready for battle. But were they aware of the nature of battle they might face on their way to the Promised Land? No! How, then, could they confidently think of themselves as ready for battle?
Now as the account of their exodus from Egypt further shows, not long after they had left Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind, mustered his army and went after them. So, they soon found themselves sandwiched between the army of Pharaoh and the Red Sea. And what did they do? Did they brace themselves to fight those Egyptians? No! Instead, they panicked and cried and accused Moses of bringing them out into the desert to waste their bodies.
But these were the same people that had confidently marched out of Egypt and ready for battle. Evidently, they simply assumed that they were ready for battle. They were not ready at all for it at the time. And if God had not been on their side to protect them, they would have perished at the hands of their Egyptian overlords or be enslaved again.
By the way, God had always known that they were not ready at the time for any kind of battle. That was because they had not fought any battle in centuries. They had been nothing but slaves being used for all kinds of slave jobs by the Egyptians. So, they had no training or experience for battle. That, of course, was why, as we see in our opening text, God did not take them through a road that would expose them to all kinds of battles, even though it was the shorter route to where they were heading. He did not want them to run back in terror to Egypt, if they should face war. Sadly, He seemed to be the only one that knew these things; they themselves did not know them.
Now perhaps that is the way things are with you too. Only God knows what you are ready for and what you are not ready for. You yourself don’t know these things. Then you are bound to be taking steps based on assumptions. And as long as you are doing that, you will not stop embarrassing yourself with unnecessary failure and disgrace and making life harder for yourself.
So, stop working with assumptions about your abilities, challenges, duties and opportunities. Instead, first, starting praying that God, who knows everyone’s true ability, will daily fill your heart with sufficient knowledge of your true abilities in order that you may appropriately employ them. Then also learn to pray that God, who knows all the challenges and opportunities you will face in life and also what is lacking in your ability to handle them, will daily perfect all that concerns you. That way, you will be well equipped and made ready to handle whatever comes your way and win all the time.
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