Exodus 14:1-5 "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"
The children of Israel as a nation were finally walking away from Egypt after 430 years. Various maps of the possible route they took may differ. We do not know the exact location of some of the places mentioned in Exodus. One thing is clear from all of them: their path was not a straight line.
Scholars tell us that the children of Israel were encamped before Pihahiroth for eight days. God intended for Pharaoh to learn of this and to assume that His people were in a place they could not escape from. Once again, God determined to harden Pharaoh’s heart. After a space of time to come to grips with the loss of their firstborn, the Egyptians were questioning themselves as to why they allowed this great host of bond servants to leave.
As we look back over the path of our lives in God’s service, we are not likely to find a straight line from where we started to where we are now. Our journey with the LORD will take us to many places, sometimes emotionally and sometimes physically, that we never expected to be. He will lead us away from our familiar bondage into what might seem to us to be a wilderness.
The things we have been delivered from (doubt, fear, addiction, loneliness, etc.) may seem to come rushing after us in pursuit. However, our journey with Him is designed to teach us to trust Him in every situation. The LORD leads us to be where we need to be to learn the lessons we need to learn. He may also lead us to places so that others might learn once and for all that He alone is God.
Trust Him to lead you in the right path. Trust Him to protect you on the journey. Trust Him that your destination is secured even when you cannot see how to get there. Trust Him to overcome every obstacle and follow Him faithfully.