Lead me Lord

I love the outdoors, I love to be moving and exploring, but there is something special about curling up in a warm blanket on the couch sitting next to a lit up Christmas tree. I could sit there all night enjoying such a sweet and comfortable atmosphere. As a people, we love comfort, and we love the expected. Reading Exodus 14, we learn that the Israelites were the same. The Exodus was a miraculous event! It is an incredible story to read God’s work in the release of such a huge number of people. I can’t imagine how astounding it was to see. Yet in Exodus 14:11, we the people recieving the blessing complaining saying to Moses;

‘And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?’

It seems a little absurd as a reader that the Israelites would dare say such a thing considering they had just spent 430 years in bondage to the Egyptians- God had sent the 10 plagues to persuade Pharoah to let them go – and He provided them a way to be saved from the pain of losing their first born. 

It is evident God was moving for them preparing to take them to a new place…a better place, but they couldn’t see His plan. All they could see was the fact that atleast in their bondage they had food and water. They were confortable in Egypt and they began to look at God’s blessing as a curse. I read this story and a frustration rises inside of me, how could the Israelites be so blind to miss God’s work? AND then I connect this lesson to my own life and I see that there have been times when I have done the exact same thing! In an effort to teach me something new, to grow my faith, to pull me from my own sin, God had to pull me from my comfort zone – and it hurt, and I complained…just like those Israelites. Isn’t it interesting? We grow comfortable in different areas of life, we begin to accept certain things, and when God starts to move, and things get a little shakey as He takes us to that new place, our response isn’t naturally the faith that we are called to have, but the complaint and whining that we see and are frustrated by with the Israelites. I thank God that He didn’t leave the Israelites when they started complaining, and I thank God that He doesn’t leave us either.

I wonder today if you have found yourself in a place where God is moving, and life just doesn’t feel comfortable? I wonder if you have taken on a mentality of seeing God’s blessing as a curse. If that’s you, I encourage you to step into God’s word and realize that His work is love, His path is love, and just because things aren’t comfortable now, it won’t be this way forever. Realize that He is taking you to the land of promise, a land that you have never seen before. A place where there is no bondage. A place where joy unspeakable awaits you, you just have to press on and trust in the One leading you. If you find yourself in that place today pray the words of Isaiah 55:8;

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Let God know that you trust Him, all Him to lead you where He will. Choose Him.