Running to Egypt

Scene One: Leaving Egypt with the Egyptian coming right after them.

"They said to Moses, 'Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.' " Exodus 14:11-12

Scene Two: Israel in the Wilderness of Sinai with very little food.

"And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, 'Would that we had died by  the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.' " Exodus 16:2-3

Scene Three: The people are grumbling against God and Moses because there is no water to drink.

"But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, 'Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?' " Exodus 17:3

We sit here and think that the Israelites were pretty stupid to want to run back to Egypt when something went wrong.

They were listening to the voice that told them this was stupid, that God wasn't with them, and what were they thinking leaving the security of the life they had?

They had better go back.

Times and circumstances may have changed, but the voice has never stopped talking.

That voice tells us that God doesn't have our back. That He won't keep us safe. That He can't provide groceries for our families. That He won't provide the money for that bill. That we are stupid for following God when we had security right where we were.

Sound familiar? We forget everything bad about that situation, and want to run back. We are scared. We feel the need to take matters in our own hands and fix stuff.

Instead of trusting that God will care for us.

That voice will always be there, telling us to turn back. However, if we would just remember what God has done for us, if we would just trust God to provide, then we would stop turning back to Egypt.

Egypt represents everything that isn't God. The world where the enemy lives.

We need to remember that God is our provider. He freed us from slavery. He took us away form bondage. He will NOT leave us to hunger or thirst. Not in any way.

Stop turning back to the world.

---Joy