June 8 - DENIAL - Exodus 13:18

The Israelites went up

out of the land of Egypt

prepared for battle.

Exodus 13:18

 

We are now on THE JOURNEY to freedom. We called this the fourth of four steps. But it’s time to start counting again. The first thing we need to do on the journey is to RECOGNIZE our starting point; then we’ll hope to discover where we’re going.

 

What is your starting point? What are you enslaved to?

 

Israel’s starting point was Egypt. Their bondage was caused by literal slavery. For them, it was taskmasters and hard labor.

 

But it was more than that. Even once they escaped their literal taskmasters, they still had to deal with many external obstacles and many internal worries, fears, and character imperfections.

 

Over the course of the next few weeks, we’ll keep reading the story of the Exodus. We want to get to the Promised Land, but our goal along the way is to discover – and defeat – some of the things that continually enslave humans like you, me, Moses, and the people of Israel.

 

We’d like to think leaving Egypt is the full extent of our journey. No! It’s just the beginning. We must RECOGNIZE the full extent of our bondage – and defeat it – before we can become truly free.

 

And the first of the battle occurs in Exodus 13. They exited Egypt in Exodus 12 and by the next chapter, they were already forced to recognize resistance. And yet they were ready! Scripture says that “13:18 The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle.”

 

To make it from “your Egypt” to “your Promised Land,” you will have to trespass over lots of lands held by foreign nations. You will have to traverse enemy territory. And it won’t be easy! But I love how they started. It says, “the Israelites went … prepared for battle.”

 

They were realistic. Are you?

 

Your journey will be a battle. And the first obstacle is DENIAL. (And no, “de’ Nile” is not just a river in Egypt.) Denial is our first potential obstacle. Our first barrier is being UNPREPARED.

 

But they passed this initial hurdle magnificently. So what does this story teach us about succeeding in the journey?

 

1.    If you pay attention, God will lead you. Scripture says, “13:21 The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light …” God will surely guide you in different ways. (I haven’t seen many beckoning clouds lately.) Nevertheless, if you look, listen, pay closer attention, read scripture (the clearest form of God’s voice), and pray, you will find that God is clearly leading you too.

 

2.       If you trust, God will lead you safely. A day or two ago, I cited on of my favorite passages from the Exodus. In the verses just before our verse of the day we hear, “13:17-18 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, ‘If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So God led the people by the roundabout way …” Do you trust God to lead you, even if he seems to want to take you in a roundabout direction? His way is the best way, but you must trust his leading. Indeed, we’d do well to be like Ruth who said to Naomi, “Where you go, I will go; where you stay, I will stay.” (Ruth 1:16 – and as the song based on this verse concludes: “I will trust in you.”)

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who usually

goes the rough

and roundabout way

when he does it himself

(God’s way is more

scenic and safer)