This live
well insight was drawn from Exodus
14:15 when the Israelites were complaining to Moses about how he led them out
into the desert to die, and how better off they would have been if they had
remained in Egypt as slaves. Moses turns to God for help, and God gives him a rather surprising answer.
Turning to our heavenly Father for help is what we do in times of trouble or great difficulty. The Word declares in Psalm 121: 1-2, “I lift my eyes to the hills – where does my
help come from? My help comes from the
Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Our help does come from the Lord!
But maybe God is waiting on us – to push through the pain, the discomfort, the difficulty, the
fears, or the hard work, so we can get on the other side of it to see His hands
at work helping us! If we, as
parents, did everything for our children, bailed them out, or let them quit
every time something became too difficult or unappealing, like school work,
chores, or sports mid-season – what would they learn? How would they develop patience,
perseverance, endurance, or responsibility? I can remember when my children were little,
and I started training them to do chores.
It took time. It took
patience. It took lots of love. It was not easy. I had to resist the temptation to come in with
the do-it-myself mentality in order to make life easier for us all. It may have in the short-run, but not in the
long-run. The easy way is not always the
most beneficial for everyone. Parents
will only create a new set of problems to deal with when their children are
older. I’m sure you have heard the term
“spoiled-rotten” before. Nothing good is
gained from spoiling our children, just as nothing good is gained by letting a
bowl of apples rot. Many well-intentioned
parents, even Christian parents, want to “bless” their children and give them what
Mom and Dad didn’t have. They
incorporate the “Let’s Make Things Easier for Them than It Was for Us” approach
to raising their kids and end up asking themselves, “Where did our children go? When did these self-absorbed monsters take
over our home?”
I am acquainted with a
family who has such a problem. They
raised their two children and presently are paying their way through college. The first child graduated this past spring. Parents continue to pay for his vehicle, pay
the gas and other associated costs. They
continue to clothe him, feed him, and give him free housing. They hand him money whenever he needs it. One day both parents were outside cleaning
his vehicle, while their 22 year old child was downstairs playing video games.
The mother was bewildered by her son’s lack of motivation and wondered aloud
why he hadn’t found a job yet. Well, he’s
got things pretty good where he is, why make any changes. In our attempt to help our children and teach
them, we need to help them move forward!
Isn’t it
the same for us and our relationship with God? God is well aware that He can come in and
fix our problems with ease, and so are we.
It is in our nature to love easy.
We long for and look for easy in our daily lives. We subscribe to “30 Minute Meals Made Easy”, watch
Hgtv’s Sandra Lee’s Semi-Homemade Cooking show, send our kids off to
school with Oscar Mayer lunchables, and surround ourselves with the latest
“make it easier on me” appliance, etc…
Hey, it’s technology, why not, right?
But in doing so, we have conditioned our souls and spirits for “easy”,
and our flesh is winning the battle against our spirits.
Do not read
me wrong, God is going to help us, just not in the way our flesh has come
accustom to. He will simply not hit the
easy button, even though He has the power to do it. He will not put our problem in the microwave
oven, or throw our struggles in the deep fat fryer. Why? God
doesn’t want His house full of self-absorbed monsters! God created us “in His own image” (Genesis
1:27). It makes sense that He wants us
to become like Him in character. We want
our children to be well-behaved, well-mannered, and respectful. God desires no less for us. If our heavenly Father prepared a 30-minute
easy-fix miracle for every storm or difficult situation that came our way, we
would not gain the strength needed to persevere, or deepen our faith to believe
God for more, or be transformed into His complete likeness – heart, soul, mind,
and body!
When the
Israelites stood there camped by the sea with Pharaoh and his Egyptian troops
approaching, they became terrified and began trashing on Moses. Moses responded with powerful faith
statements! In verse 13, he said to them
“Don’t be afraid” and “Stand firm”. In
verse 14, he declared to the Israelites that “the Lord will fight for you; you
need only to be still.” But God
responded to Moses with what appears to be a lack of concern – “Why are you
crying out to me?” Then He said, “Tell
the Israelites to move forward.” God
could not bring deliverance to them until they moved across the sea and out of
the way. In our difficulties, we may
think God hasn’t heard our cries for help – that He doesn’t care about what we
are going though, but He does. Maybe
like the Israelites, He has been trying to tell us to move forward, so He can
move and do something powerful in our situations. Maybe the miracle we have been longing for –
His divine intervention - will be found
after we let go of our fear, let go of what we cannot control, or let go of some toxic, destructive relationships we may have that are hindering our healing, hindering our ability to move forward.
Ask yourself some questions:
- What is keeping me from moving forward- fear, change, false hope?
- Is their something in my past that is hindering me from letting go?
- What steps can I take today to help me cross my Red Sea?
Heavenly Father,
Today I feel stuck. I feel at the edge of the Red Sea with no where to go but straight ahead into the waters. Help me to trust in you and know that you are with me. You will not leave me nor abandon me in the midst of my troubles and brokenness. You have a plan for my life; a plan to prosper me and not to HARM me; to give me a hope and a future - a new beginning. Help me to lean on you and not my own understanding, to acknowledge you in all things so that You will make my path straight! Thank you for your unfailing love, your faithfulness, and goodness in my life. May I walk in your peace that surpasses all understanding. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Additional Resources:
Forgiving What You Can't Forget by Lisa Terkeurst
Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud
Good Boundaries and Goodbyes by Lisa Terkeurst
The Emotionally Destructive Relationship by Leslie Vernick
The Emotionally Destructive Marriage by Leslie Vernick
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