"Leaving
Egypt" : Leaving Security for a Life of Faith
Sometimes old patterns--though unhealthy and undesirable--are very seductive,
because they seduce with their promise of familiarity and safety. They
appear to be lots better than being out there in the desert, not knowing
what is coming, going through big change, taking a chance on new life,
growth and faith. ... It is the Promised Land, via the desert, to which
God calls us. God calls us out of Egypt. Once we have broken free from
a past that is without true life, we are in a totally different place.
Just agreeing to leave Egypt and entering the desert is tantamount to reaching
the Promised Land. For Egypt is the Law, but the desert
is Grace.
In Egypt
we live lives structured to keep us from taking wing, to keep us from
becoming that for which God has purposely given us potential. Egypt
requires only submission, but in the desert we must take responsibility
for our own lives, and at the same time trust God to be true to His
word. It is when we venture forward in
trust, though we cannot see what lies ahead, that we are living in Grace
and have left the Law behind. The desert is where we follow God though
we cannot see Him, where we experience freedom of heart and spirit. The
desert is where we have the faith to risk, living freely through the conviction
that God delivers on His promises.
--from "To Fly or Not to Fly"
by the Rev. Canon William A. Kolb
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