Exodus 13:17-22

Exodus 13:17-22

English Standard Version 

  Sometimes, when I'm flying home, the pilot has to wait to park the plane because the ground crew isn't there yet.  The pilot needs the ground crew to direct the plane and ensure it's safely parked.  They need to direct him.  

  The Israelites had the advantage of having God direct their journey.  God appeared in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day, constantly guiding the people so they'd know where to go.

  Did that make it easy?

  Based on the amount of grumbling they did over the next few years, it clearly didn't serve as a constant reminder of all that God had done for them.  They forgot, and they grumbled.  

  So let's not assume that it was any easier for anyone.  It's always tough, because we see opposition and forget about the God who is with us.  God sends reminders, although in these days it's often not such visually obvious ways, but God still reminds us.  So let us keep our eyes and the eyes of our hearts open for what God has in store for us.

Exodus 13:3-8

Exodus 13:3-8

English Standard Version 

  How do you remember?

  When we were kids, we thought about what would make us happy, and when we hit those targets later on... the scoreboard had changed, and we wanted more.  Later on, we achieved more... and once again, the target had moved.  Our appetites had grown.  We grew accustomed to success and forgot about where we'd come from.  We get comfortable.

  Moses is trying to set up a practice to help the people remember. He wants them to remember, once they get into the promised land, where they have come from and how they got there.  Moses wants them to remember all that God has done for them, so they don't start grumbling as soon as things go wrong.  Moses wants them to be anchored in their identity, so they don't drift away from God, growing comfortable in ease and not thinking about all that God did to free them from slavery.

  So how do we remember all that God has done for us?  How do we continually remind ourselves that we have been bought with a price, that God loves and treasures us, and that we have been set free for a purpose, and we should live in gratitude towards God?

Exodus 12:33-36

Exodus 12:33-36 

English Standard Version 

  God didn't let God's people leave empty-handed.  They'd been through something incredibly challenging, an awful four centuries of hardship.  They probably wondered if God had forgotten about them.  

  God had not forgotten.  No matter how many times they'd wondered... God did not forget.

  In the same way, God does not forget about you.  God does not abandon you.  Prayers are not always answered in the time frame that we'd like, but that doesn't mean that God isn't listening, and it doesn't mean that blessings are not coming.  

  So hold onto hope, no matter how dark the night may seem.  

Exodus 12:29-32

Exodus 12:29-32 

English Standard Version 

  I wish I had an easier answer as to why some things in the Bible happen the way they do.  For that matter, I wish I had better answers as to why some things in the world happen the way they do.  To be alive is to know heartbreak, in one way or another, for ever since Genesis 3, the world has been separated from the way it was created to be.  That means that death, decay, and heartbreak are part of our lives, unfortunately.  It will continue to be that way until the fullness of time.  All I can do is read these passages of dismay and know that God didn't ask anyone to sacrifice what God was unwilling to sacrifice.  God gives up Jesus Christ, God's own son, to experience a painful death on the cross, and Jesus descends to hell for 3 days, separated from the eternal joy that he had experienced beforehand.

  I don't think that makes it any easier to understand the death in Scripture, but it does give me comfort to know that God understands what it is like to suffer, and so when I go to God in prayer with my own suffering, I pray to someone with compassion for me.