God puts us where we need to be, when we need to be there, to accomplish His purposes. He does it for our good and His glory.
Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. Exodus 13:17-18a NKJV
Think of what the Hebrew slaves had been through in Egypt: four hundred years of bondage, weeks of plagues all around them, and a near-death experience at the Red Sea. Finally, they are gathered in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. All they have to do is head north around the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and they will enter the land flowing with milk and honey. Instead, Moses turned the people due south, straight onto the searing sands of the Sinai desert – and away from the Promised Land.
But there was a reason. God showed Moses that the people would be attacked by the Philistines if they followed the normal route to Canaan. And once attacked, the Hebrews would flee for safety back to Egypt. There is no record that Moses explained this to the Hebrews. They simply had to trust that the God of their fathers was at work in their midst.
We must do the same. The wind and waves still know His name.