What We're Talking About

Life in Difficult Times

The children of Israel suffered much in their bondage in Egypt, building the cities of Pharaoh under the harsh hand of slavery. God heard the cry of their misery and with a mighty hand delivered them, by the promise of life and his powerful protection he brought them out of their suffering and led them, led them straight into the wilderness of Sinai.

Surely they wondered at such a circumstance. Is this all there is to life, to simply move from one set of hardships to another? Probably, we also wonder the same. It never seems like things get better for us, we merely trade one set of problems out for the next.

Yet throughout it all, two things are significant for the Israelites. One is that wherever they go, God goes with them, before them, beside them, watching over them and protecting them and providing for them. Secondly, he leads them, guides them, toward a place of promise, toward a new day, a new opportunity, a new hope. Their fate is not an aimless wandering in the wilderness, but a home, a joy, a land "flowing with milk and honey."

Are these days worse than those, worse than anything we have ever seen? Sometimes it surely seems like that! The economy is bad, corruption, disaster, disease and loss are on every side. But as we travel through these days we can remember and take comfort from how God led his chosen people out of their suffering, how he led them through the wilderness, and how he brought them finally into the promised land, for he has promised the same for us.

September 4 God sets us free to GO! God does not merely bring an end to the slavery of the Israelites, he leads them out to a new place where they can live a new life. God does not leave us in the place of our suffering, but brings us out to a new path, a new journey, a new home.

September 11 God fights for us. As Israel is pursued by Pharaoh and his chariots, God intervenes and fights for the safety of his children. As we remember the 10th anniversary of 9/11, it will do well for us to remember that God also fights for us against our enemies, and to call upon him in our times of need.

September 18 God feeds us. In the bleakness of the wilderness, as the Israelites feared for their well being, God rained down Manna, food from heaven, and provided all their needs. We are always afraid for our physical self, but we do not need to be, because we belong to a God who provides us everything we need every day.

September 25 God hear us. As the chosen people grumbled in the wilderness, God did not ignore their lack of faith but brought forth water from the rock, a miracle to call them to greater trust. The answer to our complaints about this world is to trust more in the God who does amazing things for us all the time.

October 2 God has a plan for us. The Lord leads the Israelites to Sinai, where he reveals the gift of his law to them, not a blueprint for judgment but a vision of community and peace where they might live together in joy and hope. We must trust God enough to embrace his plan for our lives, revealed in the truth of his commandments.

October 9 God saves us from ourselves. In the middle of the wilderness it becomes clear that the real danger is not without, but within, each of us. As we watch the children of Israel turn their back on God we are challenged to make an honest assessment of our own faithlessness, that we may abandon our false gods and find ourselves wholly and only worshipping the author of our lives.

October 16 God is glorious. Even God' most trusted servant, Moses, is not permitted to see God face to face, so God protects him as the divine presences passes by. We are called into the presence of holiness, to recognize what is profane and unimportant in our lives, and to humble ourselves before an almighty God.

October 23 God is with us at the end. As they come to the Jordan river and prepare to cross into the Promised Land, Moses' life comes to an end and he enters into the promise through the gateway of death. In that moment, God is with him as he had ever been. So too, we know that the end of this earthly journey is but the beginning of a new eternity for us, and we are filled with both peace for this day and hope for the next.