Lessons for Departure

Have you ever taken a step or made a decision in your life only to panic once the action begins? You know - those times when our logic overrides our faith, and we begin to second guess the very things we were so certain of even a very short time ago? Thoughts race through our minds and we eventually ask ourselves “What was I thinking?”, our decision all of a sudden seems irrational.

I know I’ve been there, what about you?


The Israelites have been there too. God led the out of Egypt, their place of slavery, and was leading them into His Promised Land. The Egyptians realized the loss they were taking by letting the Israelites go free, so they decided to go after them and bring them back to captivity. The very people that we described yesterday as boldly leaving Egypt like an army ready for battle now were shaking in their boots at the sight of Pharaoh and his army coming after them.

They panicked. They began trying to make sense of everything in their minds, and it just didn’t all add up. The cried out to God with a tone very familiar to things I have heard myself say in moments of faith panic,

Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen…….

Didn’t we tell you this would happen?, those words tell me they had already tried to rationalize this subject, much like I would have done.

The whining goes on..

We said, “Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!

I can just see our Heavenly Father shaking His glorious head at their whining, knowing full well what He was about to do. He had it under control, but they couldn’t trust that.  Thank goodness for Moses advice to them in the next verses, you may recognize some of these words from our first Godsword!

Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. Exodus 14:13-14 NLT

There was much for me to learn in this short segment of Scripture:

1)Once you leave a place of spiritual slavery, your personal Egypt, it will always come after you in an attempt to bring you back to its false sense of “home”, it's captivity. We have to realize it is NOT home though, it’s just a place you have become comfortable in, even though it is slavery. It’s easier to stay in familiar surroundings, even though they aren’t pleasant situations, just because we know what to expect. Egypt was never intended to be their home and our personal Egypts are not our true home either. Our home is in the arms of a loving Father with freedom to worship Him with our everyday lives making choices that honor Him in everything we do.

2)Logic and faith are like oil and water, they don’t mix. I have to be prepared that panic will try to set in when I leave comfortable Egypt and must realize that it is just that, panic. Relying completely on logic leaves no room for faith, and leaves no room for God to be spectacular. It always helps me to write down confirmations from God when I feel He is leading me to do something. Then, when panic mode comes, and my logic tries to take the wheel, and I can’t remember all of the God nuggets I saw leading up to that moment, I can look back at what I have written down and my spirit settles. It becomes much more clear and faith can kick logic out of the driver’s seat.

3) They were to stand still and let God fight the battle and they were told they would never see these Egyptians again. After all, it was His battle not theirs. If I let God do the battle and not take the battle up for myself, I will never see those same Egyptians again. However, if I make the battle my own, I will keep fighting the same Egyptians over and over never securing victory.

4) What am I thinking when I question an All Knowing, All Present, Almighty God? I mean come on. In comparison to who He is and His big picture perspective, my feeling I have a better understanding of a situation than He does really is quite silly. Like He needs me and my little “I told you so” Egyptian comments like verse 12 “Didn’t we tell you this would happen?” I do not see anywhere in this story where God asked for comments from the peanut gallery. He was well aware of the situation. By the way, do you know what God did after Moses told them to stand still and watch? He parted the Red Sea. That, my sisters, defies logic.  It was spectacular. He knew when the Israelites took their first steps out of Egypt what He had in mind. He wasn’t surprised at all that Pharaoh’s army came after them and He is not at all surprised in any situation I find myself in.

5) Peanut gallery closed. (At least until the next departure from Egypt!)




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