Wednesday, April 22, 2020

The New Normal


As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt?  Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”

But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.  Exodus 13:10-13

I was listening to a sermon the other day, and the pastor said something that was so spot on.  He spoke of dealing with the seismic events that change things from what they have been to a new way of life.  We all have a clear understanding of what that looks like today, and no matter our belief system, we realize that what we viewed as normal a month or two ago will never be the same again.  He pointed out some of us will have this level of nostalgia longing for not only the good things of yesterday but also many of the things we used to complain about.

As I pondered those words he spoke, I asked myself about those things that I used to complain about that I somewhat miss now.  I miss seeing my team at work and how they interrupted me in the middle of a task that had a 5:00pm deadline.  But you see, the only difference is that my wife will do it now (giggles).  But I miss them.  All of them!  They matter to me.  We all remember things from our childhood that made us feel good like having the first Atari game system on the block (dating myself).  But we forget our parents had rules, and we could not always go to Kenny’s house because we did not finish our homework.  When we think of spiritual growth, we realize that we must look forward as Paul said, “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child.  But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11) What I am getting at is that seismic change is another way of God saying you need to do something different.  But all because we need to do something different does not mean He has changed.  In fact, the thing that may need to change is our dependency on Him.

God driven change requires forward thinking.  Not backward.  Let’s circle back (with a forward lens 😊) to the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.  For those keeping score, I wrote about this back in February (see https://trdailydevotional.blogspot.com/2020/02/taking-care-of-itself.html).  As I was driven back to these verses, the thought was not on how we should trust God as I wrote back then.  That is a given.  Instead today’s focus is on why the Israelites did not trust God.  Here is where context is critical, and therefore the pastor’s message was outstanding to point this out.  The Israelites had been in bondage for over four centuries.  That means five generations of knowing nothing but building pyramids, being whipped, and having a little something to eat.  That is the only life they had known.  So now having the experience of freedom for the very first time, they are being chased down by Pharaoh’s army.  The God that led them out was their ‘new normal.’  It was unknown.  Of course, what they knew for generations was going to look better!  They did not yet understand God’s protection.  That’s why they said, “It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness.”  When threatened, don’t we run to what we know, too?  Might we too fail to recognize what God is doing?  I am not saying to not long for some of the things that are good in our lives.  A sibling’s hug.  Girls night out.  Men’s Bible Study just before Monday Night Football.  What I am saying is there is probably a lot God wants us to change, and now is that time.  More time with family and spouse.  Healing old wounds.  Getting rid of a bad habit or toxic relationship.  Finding new ways to connect with Him.

God has gifted you with an opportunity today!  In the prophecy of Isaiah speaking of the coming of Jesus, He said, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19)  We have a choice.  We can clamor for the way things used to be.  Or, we can take inventory in our lives, and look to God to break chains of bondage and make passage through our Red Sea of impossibility.  Let us move forward in this time of drastic change.  What can you do differently today to connect and reconnect with God?  With others?  What actions will you take going forward in your own spiritual growth?  My prayer is we take a moment and look enthusiastically forward to ‘The New Normal.’  Amen.

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