When we think about how
God leads us through the process
of spiritual and personal growth,
which certainly includes getting
us firmly established in our iden-
tity, the three words we need to
know are: out, through, and in.
This is exactly what He did for the
nation of Israel and it is a picture
of what He does for us in modern
times.
Israel was enslaved in Egypt,
a geographical location in Old
Testament times just as it is today.
But in biblical symbolism, Egypt
is more than a country; it’s a
metaphor for bondage, difficulty,
and oppression. It represents
any type of bondage or bad
situation you might find yourself
in today. God called Israel out of
that hard place because He had
something better for them; the
same is true for you. God led the
Israelites through the wilderness
in order to do what we read in
Deuteronomy 8:2, to test them
and humble them so they would
trust Him fully and to know what
was in their hearts. Only after
their testing and proving in the
wilderness was God ready to fulfill
His word to them and lead them
into the Promised Land.
The problem with many of
us today, and perhaps with the
ancient Israelites too, is that
we want out of the wilderness
now! Given the choice, most
of us would probably skip the
wilderness altogether and
go straight from our negative
situations into the things God
has promised us. When we face
obstacles or difficulties, we
want God to turn them around
overnight, to move us quickly
from our hard places into the
Promised Land. But God doesn’t
work that way.
Everyone who wants to
grow in God has a wilderness
experience. It’s usually not a
vast outdoor space, as we might
imagine. It’s almost always an
internal place, a location in our
hearts and minds. It may be a
time of illness or grief; it may be a
season when a son or daughter
brings heartache and concern
instead of joy; it may be the loss
of a job for some reason you
think is wrong and unfair. Your
wilderness could be any number
of circumstances. While I cannot
describe the specifics of your
personal wilderness, when you’re
in it, you know it. It’s a lonely,
frustrating place and in the midst
of it, the voices of doubt and the
devil are often easier to hear than
the voice of God. You find yourself
confused and wondering how to
get out, while also saying, “God, I
thought You led me into this.
In 2014, General Motors (GM)
had to recall more than 39 million
vehicles. The reason for the
recall was that the cars, trucks,
and sport utility vehicles had
not been thoroughly tested. A
number of deaths were linked to
faulty ignition switches, and GM
ended up paying hefty fines to
the families of those who lost their
lives. In addition, the company
sustained serious damage to their
credibility as people who once
trusted GM lost faith in the once-
reputable car company. The
tragic loss of life could have been
avoided, had GM simply put their
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