When God delivered the people from Egypt, it was a great day! It was what the people wanted and had prayed God would give them. The people had been under heavy oppression, and sorrow. However, after getting some distance from Egypt, they began to complain, and at one point they said they wanted to go back to Egypt! As an outsider looking in, why in the world would that thought even cross their mind?? Had they gone mad?!!
I don't think it was because they had gone mad. I believe it was because they liked the familiar. As horrible as it was, they had some idea of what to expect. Out in the wilderness, they didn't know what was going to happen next, things were not living up to their expectations, and they were frustrated and scared!
Just the same, despite any fears they had about the future, God WAS still taking them to the "Promise land!" They just did not like the route God had chosen to get them there. To get to the new, they had to leave the old behind. On the road to beautiful, we may have to see some unpleasant terrain.
There are times in our life when we are asking God to make things better. Get us away from this unbearable pain! Then there we stand...holding the past in one hand, and reaching out to the future with the other!
When God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He told Lot and his wife to leave the city... run, and don't look back!! Lot's wife just had to take one more look at the place she romanticized, and also her curiosity caused her to disobey God. God said, "DO NOT LOOK BACK!" She did look back, and because of her disobedience, she was frozen into a pillar of salt. Frozen in time. Lot's wife would never get to enjoy the new life God had planned for her and her family.
If we want a NEW beginning, we cannot hold the past in one hand, and reach out to the future with the other. We MUST lay the OLD down, go into the scary wilderness, but hold on to the promise that God gave us when He said he was delivering us from our Egypt or Sodom and Gomorrah. In both situations, God had promised a NEW BEGINNING!
Just because we are scared, doesn't give us a FREE pass around FAITH. Faith is standing in front of us, arms outstretched, and both hands held forward...waiting for us to put our hands into its hands. However, there is one requirement that true faith asks for...GIVE ME BOTH of your hands! That hand that is still holding on to the past MUST LET GO!
It is similar to the childhood game of falling back into the arms of those who said they were going to be there to catch you. You just have to do it! Trust that those arms will be there...THEY ARE!
Vicki,
Loved the new blog! I love that analogy to falling back and expecting to be caught. My father-in-law used that when Daniel was dying. Chosing to believe that God knows what is best for us! I only wish it was easier to 'let go' and 'fall back'! Thank for the word! Very enlightening!
Posted by: Lori | February 12, 2009 at 09:34 AM
Vicki,
Welcome back! Yes, we have to stretch out both hands and take that leap of faith! Kath
Posted by: Kathy | February 12, 2009 at 11:55 AM