So things are going well on the journey... The people are ready to kill Moses, and they're wondering why God ever brought them out of Egypt, because they think they're going to die. Perhaps if there was a vote, they'd turn around and head back to Egypt. Things were great there, but they've forgotten all the bad parts, which is hard to do, considering that I think Egypt was mostly bad parts.
But we have an incredible capacity to forget the bad parts. That's what makes it easy to spend so many hours thinking about the good old days, and wondering about decisions or choices we've made in the past.
In reality, we made the best choice we could with the information we had available. Some of them worked out, some didn't, but it's rarely clear.
And the good old days had plenty of stress. It was different, but life was hard then, too.
So keep your eyes focused forward. Don't be like the Israelites and always look back, comparing the stress of today to the stress of yesterday. The stress of yesterday will always seem less by comparison, but that's often because our memories distort things. God is with you in the here and now, calling you by name, sending you forward, equipping you for the challenges, even if you feel like you can't handle them in the moment. We often cannot on our own, but the power of the Holy Spirit is at work, binding us to community, and giving us what we need to endure. We have water in the wilderness, enough for our parched throats.
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