Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Let's talk about Moses for a minute...

#DailyProverbs

Moses was talking to God years before he had to actually do anything. He spent time with God. He and God communed. He learned God. That's what gave him the strength to do unpopular things.

How must Moses have felt when God directed him to confront his adopted brother?

How must Moses have felt to know that God told him to disrupt the country in which he grew up?

How must Moses have felt to know his nephew was dead?

Pharoah, and those in power had marginalized and vilified the Jewish people. The Israelites were crucial to business and labor, but at the end of it all, they were slaves and abhorred by the Egyptians. Yet, Pharoah never relenquished his hold or his power. He never "mistreated" his slaves, per se. Only punishing those that "deserved" it. Many of the Jews were comfortable in Egypt. They loved their captivity. Many were prominent. They were well-respected, but they were still slaves, and still looked on as inferior. The thing is... it was still slavery and it was still not in God's greater plan.

It took TEN plagues and curses from God for Pharoah to admit that the power had been ripped from his hands and that the Israelites could go to freedom. The last resulted in the death of all of the first born children to each family. It took that for the leaders and people to realize that this could no longer go on.

Not only that, but the Jews plundered the Egyptians for their gold, silver and clothes for their journey to freedom. They were actually funded through their captors. And they miserably marched on... They went through the Red Sea on dry ground, only to still complain of the journey ahead, the journey as it went, and the journey away from comfort into freedom and responsibility.

Ask yourself a few questions:
--God always has a plan. You can be IN it, or you can get run over BY it. Which do you prefer?

--When people are hurting, enslaved, and marginalized... what is your attitude about it? What will God have to do to you to get your attention? Can you learn by Plague 1, or does He have to keep going through Plague 10?

--When you judge others for their methods and their ways of expression in worship, or in pain, or in disappointment to life events, someone is judging yours as well. What would you like from God? How would you like to be treated by God? Then treat others that way. Yes, it's that simple. God told us He would treat us and judge us by the judgement we show others. That's scripture.

--Are you an Egyptian in this story? Do you lord over others or prevent freedom? Do you do that in life? In work? In finance? Do you do that spiritually? Do you harm others with your mouth and your words? Do you harm others with your vote? If so, how? How can you change that?

--Are you an Israelite? Are you grumbling that your freedom costs and is hard? Do you wish you could have it both ways? That your slavery, inaccountability, comfort, and finances flowed freely, but you were considered free? Do you wish you could just nap and forget about it all? Are you tired to the point of giving up and stopping? Well, you will NEVER get to Canaan and your promised land if you REFUSE to leave your comfortable captivity in Egypt. Get up. Keep Going.

Some of you will read this and interpret current events. Good. That's good if you see that. Some of you will read this and take this as a spiritual application. Very good. Leave your spiritual bondage and start your Exodus today. Do it without hesitation. Some of you will read this and wonder who it's aimed at, and if it's liberally slanted for current politics, or if I'm being conservative and talking about leaving sin and worldliness...

Good. Think of those things. You should leave your sin behind you. And you should find yourself leaning towards helping the poor and hurting. Why must we assume those are mutually exclusive: to be conservative and holy in our love of God and liberal and helpful with our love to humanity? Why not assume both are possibly and follow the scriptures?

I love you all.
Jesus loves you all.
Now, get up and go do something good for someone.

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