Tired, yet somehow invigorated, the pack of travelers journeyed on as they had for many days. Stretching on for miles, the caravan of families, elderly, singles, youth and even animals were a sight for sore eyes. Never before had such a crowd ventured to explore the unknown, particularly with such great hopes and expectation.
They carried with them all that they would need and more -- their personal belongings, family heirlooms, and some even snuck trinkets from the old country to serve as memorial of where they had been. Their excitement outweighed their trepidation and weariness, and they found strength in supporting each other as a team. If a widow became low on her water supply, a nearby traveling family gladly gave out of their supply. When toddlers reached their wits' end, cousins and other relatives would carry them to relieve young mothers of unnecessary burdens. With the Lord and freedom in the forefront of their minds, the crowd felt unstoppable.
As they drew nearer to the vast sea in front of them, many used the free-moving, natural resource to quickly rinse their feet and other dusty belongings off at the shore. The leader of the troupe began seeking direction about the best route for travel. Some just stood in awe of the beauty of God's creation, allowing the roar of the crashing waves to provide a sound of peace at the end of an era of turmoil.
Suddenly, the cacophony of the waves grew louder and louder. The sound of peace evolved into the sound of fear, as one by one, the children of Israel lifted their eyes from the Red Sea in front of them and turned around to see the chariots of Pharaoh's army quickly approaching behind them. Feeling distraught, pinned in on every side, and as if all their dreams of freedom were in vain, they began to cry out, "It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness" (Exodus 14:12b, NKJV).
From the outside looking in, it is easy for me to point a finger at the Israelites. No matter how many times the Lord showed His children His faithfulness or His miraculous, mighty power, they still reached a point of complacency or doubt. Prior to parting the Red Sea, the Lord demonstrated Himself through the plagues and passover. After the parting of the Red Sea, the Lord continued to show Himself to by making bitter waters sweet, providing manna from heaven, and creating water out of a rock. Yet each and every time, His children became overwhelmed and did not believe He would make a way, slapping Him with their words by asking to go back to being slaves in Egypt.
As I point my finger at the faults and ungratefulness of the children of Israel, I can't help but find "three fingers pointing back at me," as the old folks say. I have my own faults and feelings of ungratefulness that I too need to deal with.
For years, I asked the Lord to take me out of difficult situations and deliver me from harsh dealings. It took some time, but He finally did. As I now stand in a new place of freedom, I find that everything seems easy. Surprisingly, it is the easy that makes me uneasy. I had grown so accustomed to being mistreated, used, weary, and hardships that it became "normal." This caused me to build a wall and be my own defense (instead of letting the Lord be my Protector), a false place of security that I was used to. I thought I was creating a safe refuge for myself, but in reality, I established an emotional prison in which no one could get in and I could not get out.
As I am challenged each day to walk in my new place of freedom, I have a choice. I can either run with reckless abandon and great expectation through the unfamiliar open doors God has placed before me, or I can look back and long for the comfort of my familiar prison days. Remembering that I must do something different if I want different results in my life, I throw off the chains in my mind of my prison days and choose to trust the journey the Lord has charted out for me to travel in this season. His paths are ones of peace, and I find comfort in knowing that wherever I go, He is my pillar, hemmed before and behind me.
