“Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” – Number 14:3
As humans, most of us have a tendency to romanticize the past and fear the future. During times of transition, upheaval, or rapid change our faith, trust, and confidence are often challenged. Most people experience seasons where we want to turn back the clock and return to the past rather than march into the future. It happened to the ancient Israelites as they stood on the brink of the Promised Land. They became overwhelmed and afraid of the future even though God’s visible presence was leading them! They feared the unknown dangers of the glorious future that was promised to them so much that they preferred to go back to the horrors of slavery in Egypt.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy for us to judge them. However, the truth is that we can easily be like them. We tend to dislike and fear change. We often imagine the past to be better, more glorious, more pleasant, and more pure than it really was. Dread of the unknown and the future easily build in our minds, even though we have the clear promise that God is with us.
As followers of Jesus, we must not be yearning to go back to Egypt! We must not long to go back to the past, imagining it to be a refuge from the constant changes and overwhelming brokenness of the present and the deep uncertainty of the future. God always moves His people forward! We are marching to Zion in the future, not the past. We must trust the promise of Jesus that He is with us always to the end of the age. We must not dread the future, but pray and work for the advance of God’s Kingdom in the future. Don’t keep looking backward wistfully. Pray and look forward optimistically. Jesus IS Lord! #FollowJesus