The Journey Through to Promise
Sometimes in life things seem to continually go wrong. We get frustrated and afraid. It feels like the universe has decided to dump on us for some unknown reason. Of late we've begun to think of the universe as having a will, a vast organism of which we are a tiny part. But for monotheists and other people of faith in God or gods, there is the tendency in us to wonder why bad things happen to us. What divine purpose does our suffering serve, if any? We want there to be an explanation that would satisfy our pain.
The Hebrews, recently freed from slavery in Egypt, made their journey across the desert to the Promised Land of Canaan. After about 6 weeks supplies were running out. The people began to complain. There was little to eat and no water to drink at times when their bodies crazed these things.
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:2-3)
The Hebrews had been living under brutal taskmasters, but even as slaves they had a regular source of food and water provided by their captors. Here's the beauty of the Bible. It depicts human behavior so well. How quickly they forgot the pain of enslavement, the wondrous deliverance God had wrought, and the promise of a land of their own. Instead of celebrating God's deliverance and embracing the hope of a promise fulfilled, they throw up their hands in frustration over the difficulty of the journey. They would rather die in slavery than face the hardship of the journey toward promise.
I'm a recovering alcoholic. Anyone who knows addiction knows that it is a form of slavery that robs an addict of the fullest life. Whether it be alcohol or some other addictive behavior or substance, a person enslaved by addiction may lose their jobs, marriages and ties with other family and friends, rather than give it up.
The 12 steps to recovery, offered through supportive communities like Alcoholics Anonymous, depicts a journey of sorts toward the promise of a happy and fulfilling life free of addiction. At its center is a restored relationship with God, or some version of a supreme being which one believes has power to deliver from addiction. I can tell you from personal experience that addictions do not easily let go of those held captive to it. Just as Egypt tried to capture once again the escaping Hebrews at the Red Sea (Pharaoh changed his mind! See Exodus 14:5-9), the powerful hold of addictions can recapture the person trying to live free of them. It's not that addictions have any subjective will to hold us. It's really our own biological system clamoring for the comfort the addictive habit brings. And so an addict can very much be like the complaining Hebrews in the desert, desiring to go back into slavery rather than face the hardships involved in overcoming addiction.
The biggest things that cause relapse and setbacks for people in recovery is resentment and fear. Resentments are about our personal anger toward someone who has hurt us in the past. It may be a betrayal, an abusive act, an unkind word, or neglect. Whatever the nature of the violation, resentment rehearses the bitterness. It becomes a poison on the soul. An alcoholic will turn to alcohol to manage it. In the same way fears about life can cause an alcoholic to numb out with alcohol rather than face the fears head on.
What does that have to do with most of us? I think it's true that we all have some level of addiction going on in our lives, whether we realize it or not. Smartphone dependency is a real thing. It's difficult to put the phone down and focus on other people around us. For teens the link to their social world is the phone, until they are able to drive. I traded alcohol for food and moves. My new addictions are relatively harmless, but I have to admit I eat when I'm not hungry. I eat more food than I need. I am eating, not out of the body's need, but out of a spiritual need. Others go shopping as a form of comfort from boredom. There are countless ways to practice escapism.
At the base of all addictive behavior is idolatry. That seems like a big leap to go from a conversation about addictive habits and substances to one about idol worship. It's not as big a jump as you might think because idolatry is simply exchanging our need for God with an earthly substitute.
The apostle Paul identifies idolatry as the root cause of all manner of self-centered wickedness.
"for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator..." (Romans 1:21-25)
There will be times in your journey when you realize you are substituting some thing or some activity for God. We were made for a relationship with our creator. Our relationship with God is our primary vocation as human beings. When that is neglected we will feel it and we will respond. We will respond to a soul deep hunger and a spiritual thirst with something easily in our grasp. Until we have learned the truth of our spiritual need we will answer it with earthly stuff. We may find an immediate satisfaction, but it won't last for long. The next time will require more to satisfy and so the cycle of addiction goes until we are enslaved by the very thing we thought was helping. Only when we embrace the truth that we need God, and that only God can fill the void within, can we begin to move toward fulfilling abundant life.
Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full! (John 10:10) The abundant life is lived with the Spirit of God filling the God-shaped hole within our souls. The saving work of God through Jesus Christ makes that restored relationship with God possible.
The next time you complain of boredom, hunger or thirst; the next time you struggle with resentments or fears; the next time your journey gets difficult, remember that what you most need is God. God is faithfully with you every step of the way. You will likely feel your pain more than you feel God's presence. Your feelings do not change the fact that God is with you and God is fully trustworthy. God is leading you to the promise of abundant life in your relationship with God. There will be trials and testing along the way. Will you stay faithful, or will you turn to earthly substituents? Will you pray and lean in toward your creator, or will you just complain?
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| The Desert of Sin |
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:2-3)
The Hebrews had been living under brutal taskmasters, but even as slaves they had a regular source of food and water provided by their captors. Here's the beauty of the Bible. It depicts human behavior so well. How quickly they forgot the pain of enslavement, the wondrous deliverance God had wrought, and the promise of a land of their own. Instead of celebrating God's deliverance and embracing the hope of a promise fulfilled, they throw up their hands in frustration over the difficulty of the journey. They would rather die in slavery than face the hardship of the journey toward promise.
I'm a recovering alcoholic. Anyone who knows addiction knows that it is a form of slavery that robs an addict of the fullest life. Whether it be alcohol or some other addictive behavior or substance, a person enslaved by addiction may lose their jobs, marriages and ties with other family and friends, rather than give it up.
The 12 steps to recovery, offered through supportive communities like Alcoholics Anonymous, depicts a journey of sorts toward the promise of a happy and fulfilling life free of addiction. At its center is a restored relationship with God, or some version of a supreme being which one believes has power to deliver from addiction. I can tell you from personal experience that addictions do not easily let go of those held captive to it. Just as Egypt tried to capture once again the escaping Hebrews at the Red Sea (Pharaoh changed his mind! See Exodus 14:5-9), the powerful hold of addictions can recapture the person trying to live free of them. It's not that addictions have any subjective will to hold us. It's really our own biological system clamoring for the comfort the addictive habit brings. And so an addict can very much be like the complaining Hebrews in the desert, desiring to go back into slavery rather than face the hardships involved in overcoming addiction.
The biggest things that cause relapse and setbacks for people in recovery is resentment and fear. Resentments are about our personal anger toward someone who has hurt us in the past. It may be a betrayal, an abusive act, an unkind word, or neglect. Whatever the nature of the violation, resentment rehearses the bitterness. It becomes a poison on the soul. An alcoholic will turn to alcohol to manage it. In the same way fears about life can cause an alcoholic to numb out with alcohol rather than face the fears head on.
What does that have to do with most of us? I think it's true that we all have some level of addiction going on in our lives, whether we realize it or not. Smartphone dependency is a real thing. It's difficult to put the phone down and focus on other people around us. For teens the link to their social world is the phone, until they are able to drive. I traded alcohol for food and moves. My new addictions are relatively harmless, but I have to admit I eat when I'm not hungry. I eat more food than I need. I am eating, not out of the body's need, but out of a spiritual need. Others go shopping as a form of comfort from boredom. There are countless ways to practice escapism.
At the base of all addictive behavior is idolatry. That seems like a big leap to go from a conversation about addictive habits and substances to one about idol worship. It's not as big a jump as you might think because idolatry is simply exchanging our need for God with an earthly substitute.
The apostle Paul identifies idolatry as the root cause of all manner of self-centered wickedness.
"for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator..." (Romans 1:21-25)
There will be times in your journey when you realize you are substituting some thing or some activity for God. We were made for a relationship with our creator. Our relationship with God is our primary vocation as human beings. When that is neglected we will feel it and we will respond. We will respond to a soul deep hunger and a spiritual thirst with something easily in our grasp. Until we have learned the truth of our spiritual need we will answer it with earthly stuff. We may find an immediate satisfaction, but it won't last for long. The next time will require more to satisfy and so the cycle of addiction goes until we are enslaved by the very thing we thought was helping. Only when we embrace the truth that we need God, and that only God can fill the void within, can we begin to move toward fulfilling abundant life.
Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full! (John 10:10) The abundant life is lived with the Spirit of God filling the God-shaped hole within our souls. The saving work of God through Jesus Christ makes that restored relationship with God possible.
The next time you complain of boredom, hunger or thirst; the next time you struggle with resentments or fears; the next time your journey gets difficult, remember that what you most need is God. God is faithfully with you every step of the way. You will likely feel your pain more than you feel God's presence. Your feelings do not change the fact that God is with you and God is fully trustworthy. God is leading you to the promise of abundant life in your relationship with God. There will be trials and testing along the way. Will you stay faithful, or will you turn to earthly substituents? Will you pray and lean in toward your creator, or will you just complain?
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