On Life's Journey

Our journey in life towards eternity very much mirrors Israelites' journey from slavery to Canaan. The Lord heard the cry of the Israelites from their state of slavery in Egypt and decided to take them into a land flowing with milk & honey. (Exo 2:23b,25, Exo 3:7,8, Deu 8:7-9) In life's journey too, we face sickness, death, catastrophes, etc., in this world (Rom 8:22) but we are headed towards a new Heaven and new Earth, where there will be no death or mourning or crying or pain. (Rev 21:1,4)

We can learn 3 things from the Exodus which is a 'type' of the real journey called life:

1. The Lord gave 3 miracles for Moses to perform and prove to the Israelite leaders that the Lord has indeed seen their plight and has sent Moses & Aaron. The people believed their message after seeing the signs (Exo 4:29-31) but at the first difficulty they faced, they got discouraged and pleaded to be left alone. When Pharaoh asked the slave drivers to make work intense, they forgot God's message and His signs. (Exo 5:1,6,9,20,21, Exo 6:9b) Even so, a lot of us come to Christ and start on our journey after God intervenes in our life - say through a healing or a miracle in answer to our prayers - but we get discouraged so quickly when we face difficulty. We fail to recognize that the Lord who gave us 'starting' power can also sustain us with 'staying' power. This mistake comes from lack of right knowledge and expectation. The Bible tells us that in this world we will have troubles (2 Tim 3:12) but asks us to be of good cheer as he has overcome the world. (John 16:33b) Our expectation is not like that of the pessimist or the Stoic who anticipates the worst and thinks that is the best way to handle it. Our expectation is that there could be difficulties but He will be with us and see us through.

2. When they faced the Red sea with the Egyptian army charging behind them, they were again dismayed. (Exodus 14:11-13) Very often when we face difficulties, we assume there is no way out. We think of some solutions to our problems and when we do not see those solutions materializing, we lose all hope. We fail to understand that what we think as solution with our limited knowledge need not be the best or the only solution.

When caught in traffic, someone inside a car may have no idea how to get out of it. A police man on the road, at the intersection may have a better idea of what is the best way for any vehicle to get out of the jam. Better still, someone hovering about 50 feet above in a helicopter may have the best idea how long this will take to clear and what is the best way for vehicles to untangle. Our view is like that of the person inside the car, or with some additional research/ knowledge like that of the policeman, but our good Lord has the best view.

God's response to the Israelites in this juncture was to be still. (Exo 14:14, Psa 46:10a) It is possible to remain still only if we have faith that our Lord is with us and will see us through. Let us trust the Lord who told "if you believed, you will see the glory of God" and stand firm until we see the miraculous deliverance from the Lord, just as he lead the Israelites on dry ground after parting the sea.

3. When they had no water, and again when they had no meat, the Israelites complained and even cried, and pined for the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlics and meat that they had in Egypt. (Exo 16:3, Num 11:5,6,10) Of the hundreds of thousands who started on the journey to Canaan, only Moses, Joshua and Caleb lived to see the land of plenty because they strained towards what is ahead forgetting what is behind. Like the majority of the Israelites, we often get fixated on some material losses and lose sight of our destination -- we trade with the eternal for the temporal. We often direct our efforts and prayers at getting material blessings (of this world) but remain weak spiritually. The bible says if you falter at times of trouble, your strength is feeble. (Pro 24:10) We need to wait on the Lord, and renew our strength as the eagle, and rise up. (Isa 40:31, Psa 103:6) Very often we just interpret this verse physically and ask for good strength even as we age but fail to realize that inner strength is important. Our faith in times of adversity will be only as strong as we are in our spirit. We need to consciously keep building up our inner man. Else, the devil will use life's difficulties to deter us from our path.

Let us never forget that we are on our way to heaven. The Lord who brought us onto his highway with signs and wonders is an Almighty God and his arm is never too short. He is a God who makes a way for us, where there seems to be none. He has promised to break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. (Isa 45:2) While we will see his glory if we believed, we are also to remember that if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (I Cor 15:19) Let us therefore look ahead to our reward and not be bogged down by what we have or do not have in this world. We have miles to go.