Somewhere in the Wilderness

I’m sure most of us are familiar with the story of the Israelites escaping from Egypt in the book of Exodus. 

At the very least, we’ve seen the movie “The Ten Commandments”. Which if you haven’t… it’s always on TV around Easter, so check it out.

So, we’ll assume that we have an idea of the first part of that story, with Moses, the Burning Bush, the 10 plagues, and the Israelites finally being able to run away from the Pharoah and escape Egypt.

The next part of that story picks up in Exodus 14-18.  Actually, it continues through all of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and concludes in the book of Joshua.  But, we’ll focus on the book of Exodus for now.

The word exodus means “a mass departure of people” and it is where we get the word “exit” from.  Literally the book of Exodus in the Old Testament is the story of God’s people exiting Egypt and their journey toward the Promised Land that God had promised to give to His people that loved and trusted him.

So, in Exodus chapter 14 the Israelites escape from Egypt just as God had promised and they are headed to the place that God had prepared for them.  In Chapter 15, while walking in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land (Canaan, which is modern day Israel)  they sing a song to God, highlighting all that God had done to rescue them.

They are so excited about God, and what He is doing, that they sing lines like, “Who else is like you, O Lord?  Who is glorious in holiness like you- so awesome in splendor, performing such wonders?”

“With unfailing love you will lead this people whom you have ransomed.  You will guide them in your strength to the place where your holiness dwells.”

Then… God’s people did what we humans always do… 7 verses later… they got impatient and complained.  They came to a place where there was water to drink, but it was bitter.

Just a few more verses after complaining about water that didn’t taste good, they come to another part of their journey and now their hungry. 

In fact, they immediately lose sight of what God had done to provide for them.  They forget the lyrics to their songs about God. 

They say, “Oh, that we were back in Egypt!”

They are so confused and impatient that they actually are wishing they were back in slavery rather than trusting God to lead to them to the promised land.

In fact, their inability to trust God leads them to turn what should have been a journey of a handful of days to the promised land into 40 years of wandering in the desert before they get to their destination.

You may be thinking, “how stupid!”  But, aren’t we guilty of the same thing?  God brings us out of one season, but before we enter into the next, better season, we often have to wait.  And trust.  And grow.

We find ourselves even wishing things could go back to how they used to be.  I mean, how many of us wish we were a bit younger…

But we lose sight of all of the things that God brought us through, or out of, in our past.

Even though our present circumstance doesn’t feel perfect… we forget that if we would just trust God, he’s bringing us toward the land that he promised and prepared for us.  But, we become discontent and frustrated and impatient.

Friend, today, whether you are in Egypt, or wandering in the wilderness… keep your eyes focused on God’s promises and the direction that He’s leading you.  He has the perfect plan.  Don’t take your eyes off of Him to play revisionist history… the best is yet to come!

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