Lost in the Labyrinth

Last Lord's Day morning at Fole Chapel the preacher delivered a sermon on Exodus 15: 23-27, you can listen to it here. The verses in question tell of the arrival of the Israelites at Marah, where they found water (after 3 days without), but it was bitter. God directed Moses to cast a tree into the waters and they were 'made sweet'.


Only 3 days had passed since the Israelites had been delivered miraculously from the hands of Pharaoh. The waters had been parted and the Israelites saved. Despite this murmurings were heard after the 3 days without water. This was to set something of a pattern for the wilderness journey and persistent griping, moaning and backsliding were heard and seen. It appears the Israelites were rather an ungrateful lot... or so it seems to us.

They had God with them (in the pillar of cloud and smoke), they had been delivered, they were witness to many signs and wonders... yet they persisted in turning back to Egypt in mind and spirit so often. They moaned at Moses, worshiped idols and generally behaved like... well... like sinners.

It is so easy for us to tut and shake our heads at their ignorance, but we so often do the same don't we? Blind to our folly at the time, ignorant of our offences to God - but then later, looking back through the wilderness we cringe and wince at our own sinfulness and ungodliness.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I'm sure there were many Israelites who frequently chastised themselves and each other for their unbelief and lack of faith, just as we do from day to day.

During that sermon an image came to mind. It was of a scene in the film Labyrinth. For those of you fortunate enough to have not seen it the basic premise is a young girl who has to find her way through a mystical (and large) Labyrinth to rescue her baby brother from some evil king type played depressingly by David Bowie. She suffers many trials and difficulties on her quest and befriends all types of strange creatures and characters (I'm sure we can all relate to that!) I digress, the image that was in my mind was a scene where as she nears the end of her journey the entire labyrinth is sprawled out behind her.

As I said hindsight is a wonderful thing. Certainly looking back on my life over the last year I can see some of the dead ends I have come to, the pitfalls and the traps. But I can also see how God has guided me safely through to where I am now. I can look back over the labyrinth of my life and see where I took wrong turns and even headed in the wrong direction. But I can also see many of the learning experiences this afforded me. God guided me clearly so many times, but I was often blind to it. In recent times I have enjoyed the feeling of my hand in His and the assurance of being guided clearly and safely through perilous times.

As we look back over that maze of life and see our errors and sins surely we should be thankful. We should praise God for being there watching over us, offering us reassurance, providing the help and support we need when we need it, letting us 'go it alone' when we have to but never leaving us abandoned.
We aren't very good are we when it comes to a new trial or tribulation? We are excellent at reviewing such times with great hindsight and understanding but really we should have foresight enough to know that God will guide us in all things. James 1:2 in the ESV puts it well:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,"

And we should, should we not, also remember that Romans 8:28 tells us:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

I hope that you and I both recall our past experiences and God's provision next time we meet a dead end or obstacle. We should learn from looking back at the labyrinth, granted, but we'd be better served in recalling the journey while looking onward and upward at the route through the maze of life to the hill top where the cross stands and Glory awaits.