In my friendship circles there is a maxim that says God may open a door or a window when you are making a decision. When making a decision, it helps to examine the ‘light’ we are getting on the situation. As the solution gets closer, the restrictions become clear. We do not want to climb through a window. We want a door.Even with this idea in mind, the ‘door’ solution is not always evident. In my early years as a married Christian, life frequently felt unsettled and transient. I felt that the only thing I could do was push through whatever circumstance God had put me into, and eventually I would get through it. For good or ill, my choices were dictated by choosing the door that got me through the circumstances. I simply assumed that God was holding the door. Admittedly I had some distrust of this answer, because I was less than certain. It I could not hear God, would he provide direction through an open door of the circumstances? I encountered a lesson in Isaiah 19 which provides an interesting understanding of using circumstances. It starts with Egypt as the target of a nasty curse:
1. Egyptians will turn against each other
2 “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3 The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing;they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.
4 I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master,and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
2. Main income resources will no longer work
5 The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry.
6 The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and rushes will wither,
7 also the plants along the Nile, at the mouth of the river. Every sown field along the Nile will become parched, will blow away and be no more.
3. Secondary income sources are not going to work
8 The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away. 9 Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope.10 The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.
4. Neither Scholars nor Politicians will be able to offer good advice
11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings”? 12 Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray. 14 The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.
5. In modern terms they won’t be able to make heads or tails on what to do.
15 There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or reed.
The curse came about as Israel was looking for an ally against Assyria. In this scripture, God was telling them: “Do not make a decision based on your circumstances” God had other plans for Egypt, and an alliance at that point in time was not a good idea.
6. Later, God will make Himself known to Egypt
19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing[b] on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”
A lot of verses, but there is an awesome conclusion that comes out of it. Israel and the neighboring countries would all be blessed by God — but the solution had nothing much to do with circumstance. It had to do with how well people could trust in God and not on a moment of discouragement, and not on their own interpretation of how to proceed.
