What To Do When Your Eyes Are On Canaan, But Your Mind Is In Egypt Series

I. DON’T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE YOUR FOCUS

THE TEXT STATES THAT AS SOON AS THEY CROSSED THE HEAVENLY HIGHWAY (RED SEA), THEY BEGAN TO MURMUR. THEIR MURMURING WAS NOT COMPLETELY WITHOUT MERIT; THEY DID NEED TO EAT, LIKE EVERY OTHER HUMAN! FOOD WAS SCARCE! COULD IT BE THAT THE PROBLEM WAS THEY DID NOT SEE THE BIG PICTURE, AND MOSES AND AARON DID. THEY COULD SEE WHERE GOD HAD BROUGHT THEM FROM (THAT WAS OBVIOUS), AND KNEW OF THE PROMISE OF WHERE GOD WOULD TAKE THEM. UNFORTUNATELY, THEY CHOSE TO FOCUS ON THEIR THE PRESENT DIFFICULTY. ISN’T IT FUNNY HOW WE ARE CONSTANTLY LIVING IN THE PAST? ISN’T IT FUNNY HOW WE CONCENTRATE ON HOW THINGS USED TO BE, WHAT WE USED TO HAVE..OR WHAT WE USED TO DO? MEMORIES ARE WONDERFUL TO HAVE, AND WE NEED THEM SO THAT WE NEVER FORGET THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD, BUT HOW DO YOU MARCH FORWARD WHILE LOOKING BACKWARD? THE LORD TAKES US THROUGH DANGERS SEEN AND UNSEEN. YET WHENEVER WE GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL, WE FIND OURSELVES, LIKE THE CHILDREN OF ISREAL-LOOKING BACK AND THINKING ABOUT OUR PERSONAL EGYPT. HOW MANY TIMES HAS THE LORD PLACED IN YOUR SPIRIT TO MOVE ON A JOB OPPORTUNITY, A BUSINESS VENTURE, OR TO A NEW SPIRITUAL LEVEL? INSTEAD OF TRUSTING IN THE ONE WHO GIVES US THE ABILITY TO MOVE, WE GET A BAD CASE OF “COULD’VE, SHOULD’VE, WOULD’VE’S” AND END UP WITH THE "WISH I HAD’S". ISRAEL WAS SO CONCERNED ABOUT EATING FROM THE FLESH POTS OF AN UNCARING PHAROAH, THAT THEY WERE WILLING TO GIVE UP A LAND THAT WAS FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY FOR THE SORRY SOUP OF THE FLESH POT. AMAZINGLY ENOUGH, THIS WOULD SEEM TO SIGNAL THAT THEY HAD LEARNED NOTHING FROM THEIR PAST EXPERIENCE OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS AND CARE. THE PROBLEM HERE WAS THAT EVEN THOUGH GOD HAD DELIVERED THEM OUT OF EGYPT, EGYPT WAS NOT OUT OF THEM. THEY MAINTAINED AN EGYPT MENTALITY. THOUGH THEY HAD BEEN SET FREE, THEY STILL THOUGHT LIKE SLAVES, AND ACTED LIKE THEY WERE SLAVES!

II. HAVE FAITH IN GOD’S PROVEN TRACK RECORD TO

PROVIDE

THEY HAD ONLY BEEN OUT OF EGYPT FOR A LITTLE WHILE (ABOUT 1 MONTH.) EXODUS (12:18 SAYS THEY LEFT ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE PREVIOUS MONTH.) This took place on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan--the first day of Passover. The Jewish calendar has the following months:

Name Number Length Gregorian Equivalent

Nissan 1 30 days March-April

Iyar 2 29 days April-May

Sivan 3 30 days May-June

Tammuz 4 29 days June-July

Av 5 30 days July-August

Elul 6 29 days August-September

Tishri 7 30 days September-October

Cheshvan 8 29 or 30 days October-November

Kislev 9 30 or 29 days November-December

Tevet 10 29 days December-January

Shevat 11 30 days January-February

Adar 12 29 or 30 days February-March

Adar II 13 29 days March-April

FRESH OUT OF BONDAGE AFTER HOW LONG? WELL, It was precisely four-hundred-thirty years to the day since God had promised Abraham his children would be released from Egypt. God had said that the descendants of Abraham would be in exile for four hundred years. BUT THEY HAD FORGOTTEN GOD’S ABILITY TO PROVIDE FOR THEM AND WORK MIRACLES IN THEIR LIVES. THEY HAD SET ASIDE ALL FAITH IN THE PROMISES OF GOD THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED THROUGH MOSES AND AARON, AND THEY JUMPED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE LORD NO LONGER CARED ABOUT THEM, OR THAT HE COULD DO NOTHING TO HELP THEM OUT OF THEIR DILEMMA. GOD’S WISDOM LEADS HIM TO EDUCATE US IN OUR FAITH, BY GRANTING HARDSHIPS AND DIFFICULTY IN ORDER THAT WE MAY DEVELOP AND MATURE IN OUR RELATIONSHIP TO HIM AND TO ONE ANOTHER. HE WANTS US TO GROW IN OUR HOLINESS AND OUR TRUST. IF THEY WOULD JUST TRUST IN GOD….(TRUST IN GOD = NEW LEVEL, TRUST SATAN = TO TRY TO DESTROY WHAT YOU HAVE). THIS WOULD FURNISH THEM WITH A GREAT TESTIMONY BEFORE AN UNBELIEVING WORLD. OFTENTIMES, THE ONLY TESIMONY THE WORLD SEES IS THE EXAMPLE OF YOUR LIFE AND PERSERVERANCE! THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIVING TO SEE WHAT YOU CAN GET FROM GOD, AND LIVING TO THE GLORY OF GOD. GOD HAD PROVIDED WATER, AND WOULD PROVIDE QUAIL FOR MEAT, AND MANNA FOR BREAD. HE HAD PROVIDED A LEADER AFTER HIS OWN HEART. REMEMBER, MOSES DIDN’T VOLUNTEER FOR THIS JOB, HE WAS APPOINTED, CHOSEN, CALLED. AND WHOM GOD CALLS HE ALSO QUALIFIES. IF WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE IN THE JOURNEY TO THE PROMISED LAND, WE’VE GOT TO LEARN HOW TO STOP THINKNG ABOUT EGYPT, TAKE GOD AT HIS WORD AND HAVE FAITH IN HIS ABILITY TO PROVIDE.