Friday evening I went to support a friend of mine who was one of three people sharing their testimony at a church that was hosting an evening of worship and testimonies. My friend did an amazing job sharing through both the difficult times of her life, and of the deliverance God had provided to her. All three testimonies were impactful, and all three were different as all three were delivered from different situations, circumstances, different “Egypts” they found themselves trapped in.
If you asked any Jew their testimony, they all would be the same.
I was a Slave in Egypt, as was my father, his father and his father. I was trapped, enslaved and without hope. But God delivered us from Egypt.
But then they built a golden calf and tried to return.
We who were delivered from being trapped and enslaved to sin my the blood of Jesus, we try to return as well.
See this with addicts in recovery. They get clean. However, they do not know how to live sober and it scares them with the new realities they must face and work through. Though they feel better, they feel lost. Addiction is all they knew and was “comfortable.’ They think to themselves, in 6 months I am going to fail anyways, so they return to their “Egypt”.
I see this in people who were incarcerated for a long time. They get out of their prison, et it was all they knew, and they return
I see this in people in relationships. Woman with abusive boyfriend or husband. Or one who is lazy, and treats her like his slave. She in a moment of Epiphany leaves him and make a decision to move out on her own, Then she gets lonely. Friday night and friends are out and she is at home. She looks at old photos of them, and thinks to herself, we made good selfies together. She forgets what “living in Egypt was like, and calls him. And returns to Egypt.
I see this in people who are stuck in a job or career where they are under paid, over worked, mis-treated and taken advantage of. Yet they are afraid to leave this “Egypt”.
Israel, the Jews in the Wilderness
Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord;…. The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”
In Hosea chapter 11 we see the Jews could not go back to Egypt. But it was all they knew. So they again created their own Egypt and built altars to Baal, raised Ashera poles and other Gods.
Egypt can also be something “good” that your stuck in that is keeping you from doing something great. I see this in people’s lives and in the church today.
What is your Egypt?
What is it God is calling you out of Egypt to do?
What is the Egypt you wanting to go back to Egypt?
God does not provide manna in easy places, but in the wilderness, in difficult places. God only does miracles when there is real need. That does not happen when you are doing good. When you are comfortable. Why do you need a miracle when comfortable?
God provides miracles when there is real need. God provides manna in the difficult places. When you step out, are afraid, following his lead into places that if God does not show up, you will fail. Then God gives you manna. Then You get to experience Him.
On a side note, God provides miracles when you pray for them. Israelites prayed for mana, prayed for deliverance from Egypt
Where is manna raining down for you right now?
What does your manna look like?
If you are not receiving it, or having a hard time picturing it, then maybe you are still in Egypt? Manna did not fall in Egypt. God did not rain it down on them. It was when they stepped out into the wilderness. When they left for the unknown that God was calling them out into. There were no pillars of clouds by day, or pillars of fire by night in Egypt. As you don’t need signs from God to lead you if you are comfortable where you are and are not going anywhere. They are only needed for change and movement.
My family, What is the Egypt you find yourself in now, or you are wanting to go back to? What is it God is calling out of Egypt to do? God does not provide manna in easy places, but in the wilderness, in difficult places. I pray today find your manna, in Jesus name. please pray the same for me. God bless you my friend!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
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