Crossing the Border and Entering the Promised Land

From my wife, a wonderful woman of God:

We have to cross the border every 30 days to keep our visas current, it may sound like a pain, but it is actually a blessing. Over the border are malls, movie theaters and real restaurants, a rare and appreciated treat. Alexis, Emilie, Caleb, Noah and I decided to see the Ten Commandments.

I have watched it a hundred times with Charlton Heston, and studied Exodus numerous times in my youth and adulthood. I went into the movie for Caleb and Noah, I never thought I would see something new for myself. We forget sometimes that the Word of God is living and breathing, and speaks life to our spirits when we hear it.

I was hurting for Gary today; he always follows the voice of God, but is passionate and in love with his family, and he carries our pain.

Thanksgiving was hard for me, it was the first holiday without my family since I was born; yesterday, I talked to my father-in-law and my mother on skype, and my heart hurt at the sound of their “I love you”s.

Our children are used to having two sets of grandparents living in their same city, as well as a community of adopted aunts and uncles and cousins that possess enough personality to make Flag day a riot. We are all lonely for our home and family. Watching the Ten Commandments in animated form, I began to see my husband, my children and myself, as well as our history, our present and our future.

What I also heard was the gentle, brilliant whisper of God. Watching the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart to the point of losing his firstborn son, the Lord whispered to me, “Unchecked pride will make people sacrifice their own children.” Watching the plagues torment the Egyptians over and over, while the Israelites walked in protection, I heard the Lord whisper,”I see the righteous, I see everything, and I protect those that KNOW me.”

Watching Moses unsure of his own ability to lead, but humbling trusting the voice of God to guide him, even when no one else understood, the Lord whispered, “Trust the leadership I have placed over you, and pray for him, serve him, follow him.” Watching the Israelites approach the edge of the sea with Pharaoh’s army closing in, they reacted with fear and unbelief. Seeing with natural eyes, they were surely doomed.

I thought of the times in my life I have faced loud roaring lions threatening to destroy my family in every way, I couldn’t imagine a victory, I could barely imagine surviving. My God showed up, He rescued us, and swallowed up our accusers into the sea. He delivered us to the desert, to Africa. Now the choice is ours. We have the choice to go in circles for 40 years, complain, and build false Gods. We can say it is not good enough and glorify our old life, and attack our leader for his obedience.

We can build a golden calf in the form of anything that we run to for immediate comfort that distracts us from intimacy with the one true God. We can take our daily provision of manna and say it is not enough, and whine until we get meat. We can take grace and manipulate it into an excuse for immaturity and rebellion. We can run back to Egypt like a dog to its vomit, or we can humble ourselves and pray. We can pass the promise land onto our grandchildren and never see it ourselves, hoping the venom of disobedience will water down with each generation.

Or, we can submit to the season, to the lesson in the desert, to the knowledge that the promise land is a few miles away. We can submit, and know that He is God, that He has saved us, and only He can deliver us. We can submit to rehearsing the miracles we have experienced with our God instead of rehearsing the discomfort.

It seems witnessing the amazing, undisputable, creative, beautiful miracles God performs to get us to get us out of Egypt, and continues while we are whining in the desert should be more than enough to show us His character. It seems now it is up to us to remember, to believe, to trust… to enter the Promise Land sooner than later.