30 Pharaoh arose in the night …
and there was a loud cry in Egypt …
31 Then he summoned Moses … and said,
“Rise up, go away from my people …
Go, worship the Lord … 32 Take your
flocks and your herds … and be gone …”
37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses
to Succoth, about six hundred thousand
men on foot, besides children.
40 The time that the Israelites had lived
in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.
Exodus 12
Are you ready?
In the journey toward freedom, today is step four of four!
Freedom is about to begin! But first a review …
· The first step toward freedom is conscious. It’s looking up and saying, “Oh!” or “Oops!” The first step to REALIZE that you really are enslaved.
· The second step requires an action. We must CRY OUT to God for help.
· The third step is God’s action. He has provided THE DELIVERER to all who seek after him. (Now, it does no good to have a deliverer if we don’t follow him! Therefore, step 3 is like faith itself. God provides faith – and the deliverer – but we must trust enough to believe and follow for God’s free gift to bear any fruit!)
· Finally, today, THE JOURNEY begins.
Wait … what was that word?
“Journey.”
How many of us, deep down, wanted something simpler than “now the journey begins”? We wanted to be fixed instantly. We wanted to be immediately healed. We don’t God’s provision to involve any real time and effort, do we? We want the magic wand!
I mean, I was so excited when I first started paying attention to this Exodus Pattern. It sounded so simple: 1) Admit your bondage, 2) call out to God, 3) God provides the deliverer (Jesus), and 4) – poof! – now you’re free!!!
Let me tell you something, it can be almost that quick! I’ve seen it in the lives of others. I’ve experienced it myself. Indeed, when I was in my darkest pit and I totally repented, I was cured instantly from clinical depression. It happened once and only once like that in my life, but … “poof!” is pretty awesome.
Biblically, according to Deuteronomy 1:2, the journey to freedom can take as little as eleven days! (It can go quick. Indeed, that’s how far it was from Mt. Horeb/Sinai to the edge of the Promised Land). Nevertheless, it took the Israelites forty years to make that eleven day journey.
99.999% of the time, healing is not a magic wand. God generally requires that you walking it out. It can go quick. It usually goes slow.
Why? Because …
· We generally have to repent of a few sins … and we’re weak enough – and proud enough – to fight against that.
· We also have to refrain from a few destructive behaviors … and because many of these behaviors are deeply ingrained, it’s hard to retrain.
· Freedom usually requires that we think in different ways … as we strive to get past our guilt and shame, our arrogance and greed, our anger and our apathy.
· Furthermore, we may just have to learn to forgive!
· We may also need to work on our faith, hope, and love.
No matter where you are, freedom is just over the next hill. But freedom requires that you head in the right direction … and walk it out. But what’s the alternative? It’s 430 years in Egypt!
It’s time to escape your permanent enslavements. Are you ready?! It’s time to quit passing the dysfunction onto your kids and the next generations. Will you commit to a journey?
When God called Moses at the burning bush, he said, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5 Shoe removal is part of steps one and two; it’s realizing that you’re at an intersection and reaching up to God. Well, step four is putting your shoes back on! It’s preparing for the journey. It’s walking out your freedom.
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who’s strapping
up his hiking boots
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