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Leaving Egypt
by Yewande Erinle My situation sometimes reminds me of that of the Israelites; when they were delivered from the Egypt, out of slavery, out of the oppressive hands of Pharaoh. When they were on their way to the Promised Land, they complained and began to wish they were in Egypt, they thought that their lives would be better there, 'at list we knew our fate' they thought, 'now in this wilderness we have no idea what is happening'. The problem with most of us is; we like a continuous update on our lives every step of the way, I'm like 'God! You can do what you want as long as you tell me everything that is going to happen before hand, so I can make plans'. I cried unto the Lord for deliverance from a particular situation for so long, and He heard my cry and stretched forth His mighty hand, grabbed me and pulled me out of that dark pit called Egypt. He placed me on the path to divine destiny and said to me 'go on dear, you are free'. Initially I was overwhelmed with joy, then after a while it dawned on me that I had no idea what to do with my new found liberty. Where do I go from here? What do I do? How do I live now? At least when I was in Egypt I had many masters, my flesh was one of them, my desires led me one way even though my spirit pulled me another, my oppressors dictated to me how I should feel and what to do with my feelings, every time I felt their rods upon my back; be it the rod of sickness or debt or abuse, I would just lay there and let the pain and anguish overwhelm me. Flesh will invite me to a self pity party with a few alcoholic beverages; suicide would entice me with an illusion of peace in the grave. At least I knew my oppressors well, we were close and very friendly with each other as long as they remained the master and I knew my place as the slave. But now God has delivered me, and I'm no longer a slave to my oppressors. God has given me the ability to enslave my oppressors instead and He has broken their rods upon their own backs. Now I must make my own decisions, I must trust God enough to lead me even though I can't see Him and sometimes I may not hear Him. When He is silent, I must trust that He knows what He is doing and He has His eyes on me. How do I do this? I ask myself, God how can you just leave me in this wilderness with nothing but the words 'fear not, you are free, my grace is sufficient for you'? who will guide me, who will mentor me, who will strike me on the back if I step out of line, where are the masters I used to submit too, at least I could see them, but here in the wilderness, it is so quiet and there is so much space that I don't know what to do with myself. Where are you taking me to Lord? Just trust me He says. Well I took His word for it and I just trusted Him like He said. I kept walking that path and a few moments into my journey I learn my first lesson. Freedom has its own challenges too; I mean what did I think? Did I think that because God had set me free, life was now challenge free and always a bed of roses? Well that is what I thought, but I soon discovered why the Israelites wanted out. It is so much easier to remain a victim, than it is to stand up and face your challenges. It is easier to lay down and let the devil walk all over you and then turn round and complain, than it is to rise up and face him. It is hard to face your toughest challenges and overcome them. God! I cried, Egypt was easier, I knew my fate, but now I don't know all your plans for me, I can't see what you have in store for me or where my blessing will come from. I can't make my own plans; I can only just trust you. The Israelites found it hard to follow their new master, Jehovah. He did not whip them with requests, He was sometimes silent, He did not let them know all His plans for them every step of the way, all He did was love them and show Himself strong on their behalf, but that was not enough for them. You see, they had to have all the information, they were used to their old ways and their old masters, they still had the mind of slaves and they had refused to renew their mind. They forgot that they had to surrender all to God and just follow wherever He leads, after all that's what trusting Him means, He leads and you follow. Don't you feel this way sometimes? I know I do, I sometimes see my Egypt and hear it calling me, I catch myself longing for the false sense of security my former masters gave me, you know? The false peace at the bottom of a bottle, or the few minutes of euphoria in drugs, or unfriendly friends with ungodly counsel, even the leading of the flesh to do whatever it wanted and damn the consequences. Freedom has too much responsibility I thought, there's just too much hard work involved here, it is easier in Egypt. But when these thoughts come, just as I'm about to give in to them and turn back, there is that still small voice that whispers the same words to me with such calmness over and over again; 'fear not for I Am with you, I will help you, I will save you. My grace is all you need, don't give up, I have equipped you for this' and then He sings this beautiful song to me; 'move on, move on, don't be frightened, My Jesus understands, He leads the way'. All of a sudden, I find the strength that I need to say No! To Egypt and Yes to divine destiny, yes to all that He has for me even though I don't have all the information and I can't always make plans. I can suddenly sense that sufficient and amazing grace rise up on the inside of me, pushing me forward. His words constantly renewing my mind, and I realise that He truly has equipped me for the journey, both with His spoken word and with the Holy Spirit. All I had to do was trust Him. If you're reading this and you are like me, about to say yes to your old ways; listen to day to His voice, He will speak to you. Encourage yourself in His word, yes! I know it's hard, but He never said it will be easy, but what He did say is that; He will be with you and you will overcome. Freedom has its challenges, though tough it may be, but you are sure of victory and of a master and a friend who wants nothing but the best for you. In Egypt, as easy as you may think it is, only sorrow and death awaits you there. Follow Him today, keep on moving, He knows when you are tired, He can see your fears and frustrations, He understands, He has walked that same path before, this is why you don't need to know much, all you need to do is follow, because He knows where you are going and how to get there. Let Him do His part and you do yours, He leads and you follow. Say No! To Egypt always... Note to remember, everybody has challenges, the only people that don't have challenges are those that are 6ft under. Challenges promote us and cause us to grow; they bring us closer to God. Copy Right 2009 - Yewande Erinle My name is Yewande Erinle, and I love to write, but much more than that, I love the Lord and writing only takes me deeper and deeper in Him and in His love. please see the link to my blog; http://kingdompearls-pearl.blogspot.com/ Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |