Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Talk Tuesday-The Illusion of the Past

Have you ever sat around reminiscing with your friends about your 'wild and adventurous' days before you became a committed Christian? Let me be the first one to admit to that! I remember laughing with others as I proudly reminisced of my days of partying that somehow seemed carefree, exciting and youthfully foolish. Naturally, what I conveniently forgot to remember was the pain of emptiness, the void that I tried to fill with a myriad of endless activities only to face an unfulfillment of soul that I could not understand. I was chasing after the wind, and we all know that you can't catch the wind-so futile were my efforts to find happiness.

Soon after the victory of the Red Sea, the Israelites found themselves grumbling against the Lord. They encamped in Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees. When they left, they came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. The desert was arid and difficult, unlike Elim. "In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death" Exodus 16:3. It is interesting how the people forgot the bitterness of their bondage in Egypt, only remembering the illusion of the 'good times' that were really not that great. The truth is, they were crying out to the Lord because of the pain of their slavery and He delivered them. The journey of Exodus is really a story about revelation. It is here that God begins to make Himself known to the Israelites, and ultimately to us. Not to be outdone by their complaints, God rains down manna and quail from heaven, giving the people an overabundance of food because He is GOD ALMIGHTY.

 When we are tempted to hold on to the illusion of the past for comfort in the present, we will find ourselves in danger of wanting to go back. Let us not be deceived but hold on to the goodness of the LORD and keep marching forward, into the Promised Land. As the Apostle Paul emphatically says, "but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a timely reminder for us (me especially!!!) to forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead + to press on toward the goal (Jesus!). I have found myself reminiscing quite a bit lately. Life gets hard. It gets busy. Haha. The 'good ole times'!!! There was fun. But yes, did I not forget the 'all-too' quiet times. I really did have to fill my life then with stuff, people + things to do. In those quiet times, that silence and the horrible empty feeling were unbearable. Thank you Jesus for filling my heart, my life with Your love. Thank you Natasha for this post!

Anonymous said...

Hey Anonymous,

I am thankful for the reminder myself! Sometimes the pain of the present feels so overwhelming for me but you know, I never really long for the days of 'Egypt'. I, too, remember the horrible times of emptiness. Jesus is always with me to fill that void...phew!!!

Anonymous said...

When I came into a personal relationship with the Lord,my first thoughts were, "This is what I was missing all those years!" I thank God for loving me so much - He drew me to Him, out of my emptiness of chasing after the wind.
Thanks for the post. I am truly blessed by this post.

Blessed said...

Ouch! I was just starting to do this today- given my current vs past job situation. A timely reminder- thank you. God is always faithful in the present. No need to look back.

Anonymous said...

I second the comment made by Blessed; "GOD IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL IN THE PRESENT. NO NEED TO LOOK BACK!"
Thanks for that timely post Natasha and Andrew. Thanks Blessed for your response.