"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." (Exodus 13:17-18 NIV).

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. We would prefer a straight path to our goal. We want to see purposes fulfilled in the quickest way possible. In the modern day management vernacular 'effectiveness' and 'efficiency' are often linked with 'expediency'. Leaders, by their very nature, want to exercise sufficient control to steer a straight and swift course to the targeted goal. The best made plans of human leaders, with all of their calculations and contingencies, cannot compare with God's plan which takes into account all of the frailties of our human waywardness and our desperate need for sanctification.

After the long ordeal of disappointing and painful negotiations with Pharaoh, Egypt's ruler, for the release of the Israelites slaves, Moses wanted to get on with the plan to lead his people into the wilderness to worship God together with their families and their possessions at the mountain where the Lord revealed Himself (Mt. Sinai, see Exodus 3:12).

Moses had been groomed for leadership in the household of Pharaoh. God had to reconstitute Moses' leadership ability by teaching him to discern the leading of the Spirit. In order to do this, Moses had to learn to loosen his grip on the situations at hand. He had to make room in his planning for the intervention of God.

Spiritual leadership requires humility of mind (Acts 20:19). The Greek word implies the casting down of our preconceived ideas and opinions, lying low enough to be a river bed for the flow of God's thought. Moses went from being a confident self-starter to becoming the meekest man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). Moses transferred his leadership rights to God. "The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way." (Psalm 25:9 KJV). A sign of spiritual maturity is the ability to discern the ways of the Lord. It is one thing to recognize the acts of the Lord; a greater thing to recognize and follow the ways of the Lord. "He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel." (Psalm 103:7 KJV).

The Lord knew that if the children of Israel took the straight route to Sinai from Egypt they would confront the warring Philistines, change their minds and go back to Egypt. Ultimately they would be deterred from their goal. God took them on a circuitous path that would make them even more dependent upon Him for their deliverance and survival. He takes us on a path with unusual twists and that which might seem like delays. It is because He knows us better, and wants us to know Him better!

Have you been called to a God-sized task? Have you experienced some twists, turns, delays and denials? Don't be discouraged. God will make good on His promises. Humble your heart. Incline your ear. Let the real Leader lead. Only then will you know His higher ways (Isaiah 55:9).

As for God, His way is perfect (Psalm 18:30).