God Will Make A Way

We all go on journeys in life: college, marriage, new job, retirement.  Journeys begin and end with the rhythm of life.  I've found that spending some time with the Exodus story gives me a better idea how to live out the journeys I travel in life.  Maybe that's why I want to spend 6 weeks preaching on that whole story.  We know bits and pieces of course: crossing the Red Sea, manna and quail in the wilderness, the ten commandments, and finally crossing the Jordan to reach the promised land.  And what strikes me about each scene is that through it all they whine and complain and doubt and beg Moses to go back to slavery in Egypt.

I can relate.  It's easier to live with the slavery we know, the chains we are comfortable with, rather than venture out into uncertainty and the unknown.  It's easier to stay in that job you hate, instead of take the leap to look for another, possibly better job.  It's easier to stay in that relationship that is not right for you, instead of getting back into the dating scene again.  It's easier to stay stuck in the same old routine, in life, in church, in your family, rather than break away from that cycle to do something different.  It's easier to keep silent when we hear racist or hurtful remarks, instead of speaking up and challenging those comments. 

So on one hand, I try not to beat myself up when I have thoughts of going back to Egypt.  When I want to regress and return to a simpler but unhealthy way of life.  At the same time, I remember that God was faithful in leading the Israelites to the promised land.  That even with the whining and complaining and doubting and begging to go back, God persevered with the people God loved so much.  God was faithful to the end.  God is faithful even now.  God will always be faithful.

So when you have moments of regretting your bold decision to move forward in life, or you can't seem to make that decision to break away from the slavery you find yourself in, just remember that God can make a way when there seems to be no way.  God will remain faithful even when we aren't.  Thanks be to God!