My reading for 2/1/14 was Exodus 15-17. Talk about “euphoric
high!” It startled me how this relates to us when we mourn a former or ended relationship. Many people speak of the pain of "letting go." We don't like to surrender anything, as evidenced by our unwillingness to surrender to the Lord
In chapter 15 the Israelites are dancing and singing that
they’ve been freed from the 400 years of slavery and hard work and disrespect
of the Egyptians. Well, all the way up to vs 21. Verse 15:22-24 takes an
ugly turn, when no good water is found in the desert, and “the people grumbled
against Moses.” That’s real gratitude for you!! 14:25 Moses throws
a tree into bitter water, making it sweet. By verse 27 the travelers arrived at
Elim, “Twelve Springs of Water”. Problem Solved…. Good time to stop talking
about Egypt!!
Chapter 16:1-3, they set out to continue the nomadic adventure to "Promised Land." By verse 3, they are griping and grumbling that they
wished they were just “back in Egypt, we had plenty of meat to eat and plenty
of bread there.” They just wished they'd died in Egypt, as to have to die now on this
trip to some “milk and honey” promised property. They had NO FAITH whatsoever
that God would provide a friend (oops, I meant food) for them on their
adventure of following Him. NOPE, this Guy with the Angels, the Miracles,
the Red Sea parting, the defeat of the finest army of the world at the time,
the Cloud, The Fire in the Sky…. (the last 3 blessings you received – oops, just a slip!)….
Well HE just did NOT seem to be able to take care of them…. “Egypt was
pretty nice compared to this FAITH deal!!”
So, in 16:4, God starts telling Moses of His meat and bread
provision plan. A little unique, but when you’re traveling light, Fast
Food may be the best way to go!! And so He flies in meat, and dumps
“daily bread”…..one verse after they are done complaining….( I don’t know that the
point is: “don’t grumble”, because God told Moses in 16:12 He had “heard the
grumbling”.) Maybe it’s a good thing to let Him know how you feel: Job,
Jeremiah, Jonah, (YOU) and a host of others in the Bible did so, and He
didn’t seem to take offense. He did straighten them out, nicely!
Fast forward to: ScreamFree Living: “Patterns are powerful, in that
they give use familiar stability, even if that familiarity leaves us
miserable.” (Egypt wasn’t REALLY all that great. The Government had ordered
infanticide, and “More Brick, Less Straw” as in Exodus 5:10-11…and
Pharoah-Health-O-Care was simple: work more, or you get beaten”) So why
the sudden flashbacks PAST all the miracles since then, to the time in Egypt? Well, it was secure back there, and it was all they’d known, and they knew what
tomorrow would bring….and they didn’t need a Month-at-a-Glance Planner!! Life
was simple, do the same thing everyday; and you Did Not have to camp out all the time!!
Again, a word from ScreamFree Living: “It is far easier to complain than to
change.”
I can’t make this stuff up! It’s in my daily Bible reading,
and ScreamFree is in my brain from 6 years of using it! Take a hint...as a young Pastor friend said to me recently: "It took one night to get the Israelites out of Egypt.... and 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites!" If you've been delivered from something, (or someone)...LET IT GO!!
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