Transition

I believe God is calling me to write about the transition time between the nation of Israel's expectation of deliverance and the actual deliverance as the picture of a move from faithful perseverance to a painful transition time to the fulfilled promise.

The full story can be found in the book of Exodus chapters 1-13.

They believed in God's deliverance and they cried out for deliverance.  They had faith in God.
Their cry reached God's ears.  They believed in God as a nation, and his power to save.

They were persevering.  For generation after generation.  They had learnt to work hard.  And receive little.  They were subservient.  Yet despite their dogged faith in Gods promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob I imagine their spirits were crushed and desperate, their identity and confidence weak.  What did they have to pass on to their children?  Yet the slavery and sifting, shaking off every earthly boast and confidence, was a crucible for a faith refined and tried.

They had been prepared for a deliverance.  Their suffering, I believe, had actually prepared them for their deliverance, in that their faith had been tried and refined.  They were ready.  I believe God really believe that as a nation, they were ready to be delivered.  Why would God wait so long to deliver the Israelite's?  I have thought this.  Have you?  I am starting to believe he was raising up a national faith, that would be required for the deliverance he was going to bring. (I have recently thought I have been subdued for a long time and struggling seemingly under the enemy's thumb- why was I there so long...Why has God waited to this particular point in time to reveal the spiritual reality of my condition to me?  Perhaps it's that the very struggle of being held down produces strength as we keep on fighting, even if our effectiveness is reduced, our spiritual muscles of faith are still working to survive and hang on to God.)

When it finally looked like it was around the corner the relief was in sight.  And when the relief in is sight we just want it now.  And it's so tempting to despair at delay.  And it's so tempting to complain. Why.  Why is life so painful God. And we have been persevering for so long.  Then suddenly, when the deliverance is in sight, the impatience and complaints are welling up so easily.

And they were ready.  God had decided they were ready.  They didn't seem ready.  I always thought why were the Israelite's carrying on so much when deliverance was around the corner. Why were they being so painful for Moses?  They seem like spoiled children.  Can't they just wait a little longer?

But the crucible had heated up.  Even though deliverance was around the corner, for awhile things were actually harder (Exodus 5, 6 v 1-9).  Maybe the deliverance wasn't going how they had pictured it.  Maybe they had pictured a battle- rising up with the sword in power.  It may have seemed drawn out and dramatic. Like a bit of a scene.  Hatred may have been rising up from the Egyptians.  Maybe before they were mocked and belittled and mistreated- but now they were hated and punished more than ever.

Now say deliverance is around the corner for you in your situation and the enemy senses it and you start to look like you are going to emerge from his trap he had you in (that God was sovereign over, mind you), he is not going to lie down and take it.  You are going to feel his fury.  Deliverance is in sight and the plan of destruction he had laid for you is about to be turned on it's head.  And worse than that for the devil, because everything he has inflicted you with is only going to serve to glorify God more because of the testimony of your deliverance (see Job 1, 42 v 10-17).  God is about to be glorified even more, and that is the last thing the enemy wants.

Now if you are in a trap, being set free is not pain free.  There is the deliverance.  Then there is the adjustment.  Say you were in a confined space that held you.  Your muscles have accustomed to the position you must lie in, they are tight.  Standing up is going to be painful to say the least, and perhaps impossible for a time.  You have not seen the light- with light flooding in your eyes may scream with pain.  Maybe even the possibility of the reality of deliverance brought fear.  Maybe they were actually stirred up in fear, while simultaneously wanting freedom.

And then there's the stress.  For example, I got wonderful news today that we have secured the house we want to move to, that we have somewhere to go, and it's a good place, with things I prayed for. But the move is in two weeks, and though the relief came at the news of securing the property, that seems to have been overwhelmed with tension at how much there is to do.  Things are just intense.  I want to sort the clutter, give away and sell things.  I don't know what to do with what.  The place here 'feels' like a disaster zone.  I feel like I have to make everything happen all at once.

Surely it would have been very stressful for the Israelite's.  They are expecting to be delivered but they don't know when.  After every plague they were expectant.  Is it this time? They don't really know when their exit is going to occur and exactly how...What they do have is God's promise that he will deliver them, that he is with them and he will guide them. They have his promise of freedom and his promise of goodness toward them.

And as I'm writing this my heart is being blessed, and relaxing, as I think, I need to keep my focus on who God is at this time, and his promises, of how he has provided.  It's too easy to just move on to the next thing to worry about - like 'how' is this next stage going to happen?  I want to focus on all his provision.  I want to hold my faith.  God really helped me hold my faith to secure a house and I have been able to proclaim that faith.  I want to hold my faith for each and every days activities before the move, the days of the move and the settling in after the move.  That was the challenge to the Israelite's.  To hold the faith.

Psalm 105 is amazing.  It tells of the covenant God made with Abraham, then swore on oath to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob- to give their descendants the land of Canaan.  It tells of how he protected his people.  And then it tells of how God 'called down' famine in Egypt, and 'sent' Joseph before them. It describes how God made his people very fruitful in number, more than the Egyptians.  The word then says that God turned the hearts of the Egyptians to 'hate and conspire against' his servants.  He sent Moses and Aaron.  He performed wonders. He delivered his people.  He guided and provided for his people in the wilderness.  Those that were faithful of the descendants eventually inherited the Land!

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done, the miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

O descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.

He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant;

"To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit".

Psalm 105 v 1 - 11

Hold the faith. God is sovereign, even in the difficulties, and his goal is sure. As you go through your upheaval and transition, keep your eyes on our faithful God, on Jesus who endured the cross for the joy set before him, on the power of the holy spirit who lives in you who raised Jesus Christ from the dead! God can help us overcome the stress that tempts us to take our eyes off him- let's focus on the good he has done for us, the place he is taking us, the vision he has given us for our future, and his love to care for us, each and every step along the way.