Most people love new things, thoughts, or circumstances, or hate them according to how much they love the old. Comfort in the way things are tends to build a resistance to anything new that would displace the things, thoughts, or circumstances of the present unless we are unhappy with them. Hate the old, love the new. Love the old, hate the new. But most people, including myself, have a natural resistance to any change in our lives and cling to old habits, thoughts, and ideas, no matter what. This is so strong that anything new introduced by leadership in a church, business, or organization must be preceded by convincing the members, employees, and associates of the need to change. Experience teaches us that people will not embrace newness or change until they are so unhappy and miserable with present circumstances, they feel they must change.
Moses was a man called by God to bring positive change to the Hebrew people. They had been living in the land of Goshen in Egypt for four hundred years. They began their residence there as honored immigrants but at the end existed as persecuted slaves of Pharaoh. In misery, they seized upon the message of deliverance brought by Moses leaving Egypt bound for a new life. As they journeyed, new hope burned in their hearts that they would find a home in their ancestral land where they could find freedom and prosperity. But I do not think they would have left Egypt had they been satisfied with life in Goshen. God fostered in them a holy discontent by means of their poverty and endless toil for Pharaoh. Moses demonstrated to the Hebrews that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph possessed the power and the will to bring positive change into their lives. They simply had to meld their will with the will and word of God and follow Moses in obedience.
I am convinced that the grace of God creates in us a holy discontent when trouble, hardship or sin comes into our lives. Recognize the work of the Holy Spirit that is prompting a change for the better in more faith, less fear and surging hope in God’s redemptive power. We can be better no matter where we are in our walk with the Lord. Let us break out of complacency and neglect, flee from smug comfort, and humble ourselves before God. With faith let us ask Him to deliver us through every trial and forgive us so we can be changed and made new.
“Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD.’” Exodus 6.6-8 (NASB)
George Cargill