Pictures of Egypt

“In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.  The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!  There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted…”” Exodus 16:2-3

Years ago Christian singer Sara Groves released a wonderful song entitled Painting Pictures of Egypt.  This song had a profound effect on me at the time and still does to this day.  In the chorus of the song Sara sings these words:

“I've been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard
And I want to go back”

It struck me that this is what the Israelites were doing in Exodus 16.  They grumbled to Moses that back in Egypt ‘we had all the food we wanted’.  Now mind you, this was mere days after they had left Egypt; already they had forgotten the slavery God had delivered them from. 

They forgot that they were beaten and made to work way past the level of exhaustion.  They forgot that they were hated and despised by Pharaoh and the Egyptians.  They forgot that they were probably given just enough food to sustain them and that they probably had barely any time to prepare it and eat it because of the long hours of work they were forced into.

There were not pots of meat.  They didn’t eat all the food they wanted.  They were slaves.  They were treated like beasts of burden forced to do the bidding of the Egyptians.  But in just a few days, they had forgotten all that.  Compared to this uncertain future in the desert, life in Egypt was one big party.  Rather than trust in God, they chose to believe the lie of the enemy that their former life was so much better.

Isn’t that what we, as Christians, do as well?  When we first ask Jesus into our hearts, we are so excited.  But after a little while, the enemy comes in with his lies and tries to get us to look back at our old life.  We see our old friends still doing the things we used to do, and we start to miss that life of sin we were in.  Never mind the fact that we were on a one way trip to Hell for eternity.  Never mind that we were facing eternity cut off from God. 

We forget all the things Jesus set us free from, and we remember only the good times back then.  We forget that they weren’t good times at all.  Just like he did to the Israelites, the devil twists our past with his lies.  He leaves out all the bad parts and makes it seem like it was one big Mardi Gras every day.  He does this because he wants us to turn our back on God.  The devil wants us to go back to serving him as a slave to sin.  He wants to keep us in bondage to our old habits that were killing us. 

It was this way with me.  Perhaps that is why Sara Grove’s song means so much to me.  For years I was addicted to alcohol.  I was miserable, angry and depressed.  And the more I drank, the more depressed I became, and the more depressed I became, the more I drank to try and forget the pain.  I was in a vicious circle and was headed for death.  Then someone told me about Jesus and they brought me to church.  I asked Jesus to get me out of the miserable life I was in, and you know what? He did.  Jesus set me free from booze.  He cleaned me up and I became sober. 

But guess what? It didn’t take long for the devil to come around and start whispering to me about all the fun I was missing.  He told me my old friends were still going to the clubs and the parties.  They were having a good ol’ time and look what I was missing out on.  All I had to do was forget this church stuff and head back to the club where the party is at. 

Was I tempted to listen?  Was I tempted to turn from Jesus and go back to my old life?  I’d be a liar if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.  The devil was painting such a great picture of Egypt for me.  He was just leaving out all the heartache, all the nights of throwing up and being sick, all the suicide attempts I made, all the anger I had, and the people I hurt.

I had no idea what God had in store for my future.  Was I scared?  Of course I was.  But I knew that whatever God had in store was way better than my life of sin.  I told the devil to get lost.  In John 6:68-69, Peter tells Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.”   Like Peter, I knew that Jesus was the truth and the way.  I knew my old life was a lie and held nothing for me. 

I have run into many people, however, who accepted Jesus into their lives with joy and gladness.  They come to church and fellowship.  They are set free from some of their past problems.  But soon they start painting those pictures of Egypt.  They start looking back at what they were missing in their old life.  They question God because He didn’t immediately set them free from this or that addiction or habit.  They realize that the road to the Promised Land goes through a desert.  They realize that God failed to give them their own personal copy of the map to where He is leading them.  They realize they have to trust Him every day to lead them and that it won’t be easy.  Life as a Christian isn’t Mardi Gras every day.  But guess what? Neither was your life without Christ, despite what the devil would have you believe.  Sooner or later, I stop seeing these people at church.  I find out they have gone back to their old life.  They have left the truth behind.

The truth is, the Promised Land isn’t here on earth.  It’s in Heaven with our Father.  However, while we are here, He has promised to provide water and food for us.  He has promised to provide for our clothing and our needs.  He has promised that He has a good destination in store for us, way better than the path we were previously on.  All we have to do is trust and follow Him daily.

The truth is, we are all headed to a Promised Land.  We are all on a journey here on earth.  This world is the desert for both Christians and non-believers.  We don’t reach the Promised Land until we die.  The problem is, there are two lands that are promised.  One land is a continuous desert of flames and torment, of misery and hell.  The other land is comfort and peace, safe in the arms of God, who loves us.  Like Lot’s wife in the Book of Genesis, we can look forward to the salvation God provides, or we can look back at our old life and die.  It’s our choice to which land we journey. So I challenge you, choose wisely!