What purpose?
I was thinking this morning that freedom always comes at a cost. And it is also a time of testing and proving one's faith.
When God told Moses to set the children of Israel free from Egypt, they didn't realize the challenges that would be before them to prove them whether they would trust Him or not.
Egypt the symbol today of globalization and control over everything we think and do, would be challenged.
Would we let go of our comforts for freedom?
There were many that complained and wanted to turn back. They complained about the lack of food, the lack of water, the long and winding road.
It didn't have to be 40 years of testing, they brought that on themselves.
All they had to do was Trust God.
Why did God come down in a dark cloud and light upon a mountain to give the people Hiis law and what was expected of them?
Why did they return to the false idolatry of Egypt?
God made a promise. If you believe in me and keep my Word I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey.
But in order to get there you will have to go through famine, pestilence, wars and even death.
Think about those 40 years the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness led by one man whom God had chosen, Moses.
A lot of people didn't like Moses. They thought he was leading them into a trap, a death trap.
It was better for us when we were in Egypt. We ate to to the full. We were regarded as slaves and treated as slaves but we knew what the future held and our children's future.
And this man has come with a message from a God we do not know that says he will lead us to freedom.
He will break the chain of Egypt and we will learn to live by God alone.
That's where we are today. Children in the wilderness. Some wanting to return to the ways of Egypt. Comfortable in our own chains of slavery to the system and in debt to a system that was created with the very purpose of keeping us comfortably numb.
The future can be scary if you have no faith.
You might go hungry, have to pay higher for gas or food. Unable to see the end of the tunnel because the darkness is blocking the light.
And so we complain and cry and mourn the loss of our comfortable numbness and are shaken into a reality that real freedom comes at a cost. And that cost is Trust in God.
Have faith.
Hugs
