After spending 430 years in Egypt, the Israelites were finally freed — and one of the first things they did was complain and ask to go back to Egypt.
Then they spent 40 years in the desert. When they finally crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land, one of the first things they did was become discouraged and pine for the desert.
It is human nature to want to stick with what we know and remain in the familiar. But that is not how we grow and not the way of progress.
God often asks us to do the uncomfortable, to take risks, and do what we would rather not do. But it is when we leave behind what is known that real growth can occur; it is when we are outside our comfort zone, depending on God, that our relationship with him deepens.
Yes, we can remain in our own Egypt or own desert, but staying where we don’t belong is being stuck in something less than God’s best plan for us.
When God says to go, do it — and don’t think about going back.
[Numbers 14:3 and Joshua 7:5, 7]
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
