Monday, May 21, 2007

What is unseen?

I hope I will not be in some way stealing from the Kevin T. thunder with his excellent posts on the plagues of Egypt, but something has gotten me wondering.

I have often wondered why the Israelites were so willing to trade the unseen promise of freedom for the known bondage of slavery. When applied to my own life it makes imperfect sense. As humans we have a natural desire I think to gravitate to the comfortable and routine, even when that routine means slavery. If you really think about it, the Israelites had more faith in their oppressors than their Heavenly Father. Maybe it is because they had more experience dealing with the Egyptians and that just seemed easier to digest than having to learn to follow God whom they could not see. And who up to that point seemed(at least to them) unwilling or unable to help them. I would dare say that even the most seasoned sailor still experiences some anxiety when leaving the safety of the harbor for the open sea because it still represents the unknown. To truly be what God has called us all to be, we must at some point leave the security of the harbor to set out for deep water. That means leaving sin, old mind sets, habits and the like behind in order to embrace a new level in God. Are you willing to pull up your anchor and unfurl your sails? Can we let go of the past in order to see what is up ahead? Can we have faith enough to believe that God is going to work these things out in our favor if we will just trust Him? Is He asking any more of us than He did of the Israelites when they left bondage? In case we have forgotten, God is in the business of making the broken; whole, the poor; wealthy, the sick; well and the bound; free. If He did it for them He will do it for us too.

5 comments:

RJ said...

Ug, Johnny. Thank you for your brutal honesty. It was just what I needed to hear tonight. You met me in the midst of my trial... and have helped me stand tall. Thank you for being my good friend and brother, and please continue to pray for me to have the strength to persevere, and the wisdom to resist the traps that lie in wait for me.

Hbomb said...

I would take it a step farther...wasn't Eygpt a place of freedom and provision when famine struck the land? Can it not be that God's place of provision can become a place of bondage if we chose to stay where God was instead of moving with Him to where He is going? Pastor Ron once said the greatest opposition to the next move of God is often those who experienced the last move of God. It's so easy to put God in a box. Thanks for sharing...

Kevin Thomasson said...

Great post brother. It's the whole onward and upward thought pattern. "Let keep striving forward" as Paul would say.

bryan mcgee said...

I was going to say what Helen said. Instead, I'll just say, "... yeah, that's right... what she said." :)

Thanks for the great post.

Real Life Sarah said...

I am one who gets really comfortable in the predictable. This post and Rodney's latest post are sort of scary for me. It makes me think, "God, do you want me to do something totally new and not necessarily according to my 'gifting'?" I hope not, right now, but I will keep an open heart.

PS We're back online after the move. Yay! Also, did you ever know Reggie Hunt at ASU? I've been hanging out with his wife a bit lately, and they pastor a new church here.