Now What?
I can remember as a teenager in high school wanting to grow so bad. My dad was 6’-6” tall and I was sure I would pass him up. (For the record, I never caught him.) I had a friend tell me in my freshman year that, if I ate 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before I went to bed, I was sure to grow. I have two takeaways from that bit of advice. One, it isn’t true, unless you’re looking to grow wide and not tall. Two, eating two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every night can get really expensive, or so my mom told me. Bad advice!
However, I did eventually grow. But what I didn’t expect with the growth was the pain that came with it. I can remember laying in my bed at night with my knees aching in pain. Seems like my joints were constantly throbbing as I was growing. Good news … I grew nearly 5 inches in a summer. Bad news … I was in what seemed like constant pain for 4 months. I learned a lesson that summer.
The growth that we desire often comes with great pain.
There were some nights where I remember thinking that I wish I could go back to where I wasn’t hurting anymore. The only problem with that was I would forfeit growth. Little did I know how that principle follows us our whole lives.
Let’s face it, many people tend to fight growth. I’m not talking about physical growth, but emotional, intellectual, financial, and spiritual growth. Why? Because it often requires us to navigate painful decisions and seasons. This is exactly where the Israelites are in Exodus 14. They were slaves in Egypt in forced labor. They couldn’t go where they wanted to go or do what they wanted to do. They were disconnected from any kind of relationship with God and His great plans for their lives. Their babies were being killed and their freedom was completely gone. And one day a man named Moses shows up to tell them that God wants to set them free. He wants to remove them from slavery and bring them to their own land filled with beauty and abundance. This decision is easy … “LEAD THE WAY!” What they didn’t know is how hard the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land would be. Had they known; I wonder how many would have stayed in slavery.
Moses’ journey with the Israelites is an incredible lesson in both leadership and the nature of man. Every step along the way the people would complain about the pain of growing. You can read it throughout the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy. One particular incident has been standing out to me as of late. After the Lord strikes Egypt with 10 plagues because Pharaoh wouldn’t let Israel go free, the nation of Israel is finally released and heading to Canaan. (a.k.a. The Promised Land). The Lord in His wisdom leads them to an apparent dead end where they were trapped between the Red Sea ahead of them and the pursuing army of Egypt coming to take them captive again behind them. Quick thought …
Often God has to limit the choices available to us in order to lead us
into the growth He desires for us.
An apparently impassable body of water before them and an apparently unconquerable enemy behind them. What do they do now? Sounds like where we are today doesn’t it. In the midst of this pandemic, some have lost jobs and standards of living that they have been used to. Much of what was at one time “normal” and “comfortable” is now gone. The future in a lot of ways is uncertain. And yet pushing us from behind is this enemy we call COVID-19. Fear and panic seem to be the dust that this army kicks up as it advances. Red Sea and Egyptian army …Loss of stability and global pandemic. Different character but the same story. What do we do?
In Exodus 14, the Israelites reaction was to complain. They started saying that they wish they could go back to Egypt. But times of uncertainty have a way of doing that.
It’s easier to dream about how good our past was rather than
trust the Lord for how good His future is.
In the absence of comfort and certainty, we tend to want to go back to where we were. As I lie in my bed wanting to grow, the uncomfortable pain in my legs caused me to want to go back. This is important:
Growth is a natural part of life and, though painful, is so necessary.
I want to encourage you today to take inventory of what you have been given. Not stuff around your home, but relationships and opportunities before you. This is a season for growth. It may sound crazy, but let’s not ask the Lord to end this season we’re in until He has accomplished the painful process of growth in our lives, our marriages, our families, our communities, our nation and our world.
We can be in such a hurry to “get back to normal” that we miss that fact that God wasn’t pleased with our “normal” to begin with.
God had bigger plans for Israel that building the cities of Egypt. And God has bigger plans for you than being in bondage to anger, hopelessness, addictions, lack of intimacy in your marriage, etc. The God we serve is the God who calls us out of bondage into His freedom and love. As the Israelites stood on the banks of the Red Sea, I wonder if it even occurred to them that God could split it in half and lead them through. I doubt it.
We often limit God to what we think is possible forgetting that He is the God of the IMPOSSIBLE.
Can I ask you a question? Have you settled? In your marriage? In your career? In your personal life? In your understanding of God? In the pursuit of your dreams? One more question. Have you ever thought that the apparent dead end you are facing is an opportunity for God to open up a whole new path for you? Remember, He’s not just the God of the “possible,” but of the “impossible!”
(to be continued)
Thank you, Sir. Your leadership is greatly appreciated. Your and Heidi’s faithfulness to God, to each other and to this congregation is a BLESSING. That growth has prepared you for such a time as this. Be blessed. I look forward to seeing all of these in a published book soon.
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