More journeys. This time it is a journey out of captivity and into freedom. The great Exodus story which points forward through history to a day when God , in Jesus, frees us from the tyranny of sin, and further forward to the day when we shall all be found in heaven. Free at last.
The Isrealites are free from the moment Pharaoh declares that they can go. Technically. They are free, but they need to move and head on out of the place of their captivity - to physically remove themselves from the place where they have been oppressed and enslaved. They need to make a break with the past and set out for a very uncertain future. It must have been very scary to have to gather up the family in the wake of the terrible plagues and mayhem which had descended on the country of Egypt and to walk out of there under the view of their enraged and grieving captors.
When we find ourselves in places of torment and captivity we can come to Jesus and hear Him tell us that we are forgiven, we are healed, we are new and restored, we are free. But actually experiencing that freedom usually means that we have to do something. We have to move. Leave. Set out and head for somewhere new. We have to establish a new way.
As can be seen in the story of the Exodus, it doesnt take long for the enemy to come charging along behind, intent on recapture. Hell - bent on not allowing escape. And the people soon face the horrifying prospect of drowning in the sea or being chased down and dragged back to a life of more horrible slavery than ever before. Their hopes, which have risen so gloriously at the inspiring words and example of Moses, are now dashed as they realise the Egyptians are on their heels.
How many times have we struggled to get free from our fears, failures, past and sins - and make an initial breakthrough, only to find those very things breathing down our necks once more yanking us backwards into despair? How often have we set out on a new and inspiring path only to be met with a brick wall of impossibility? How often have we shouted at God that He cannot care for us if He allows this to happen? How often have we doubted that we heard Him in the first place - it's too hard all of a sudden. We are afraid. We can see no way out.
Several of my friends are in difficult positions at the moment. God appears to have told them to take a path which has now come to a dead end. What they thought He was blessing has suddenly fallen apart. The way they thought it was all going to pan out just hasn't happened. It has become uncomfortable, for some almost unbearable. And God has gone quiet. Why does He always do that when things get sticky?
The Isrealites were faced with a choice at the edge of the sea. Would they turn around, back the way they had come and face their enemy safe in the knowledge that they would be slaughtered or recaptured? Or would they trust God in the face of the utterly impossible? Would they trust their leader - the one who had faced down the enemy and won their freedom through acts of obedience and power? With the benefit of hindsight it doesn't seem like much of a contest, but I'm sure at the time, faced with the choice between the sword or drowning it was a very real dilemma.
We shall never be free, in this life, of the pursuit of the enemy. He is a liar and a thief and is always looking for any opportunity to drag us back and tie us up again. But Jesus has defeated him. Jesus has placed His feet on the serpent's neck and has declared his rule to be over. Jesus walks on water. He calms storms. He is the Way. As long as He goes before us, regardless of the obstacles and the dangers we may encounter He will lead us through. Because He is taking us home. To our promised land. Eternal rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment