It kinda feels good…
Why does someone stay in an unhealthy relationship? Not just relationships with people but drugs, porn, gambling, eating, sex, shoes – you name it. Why do we stay there?
I’m no psychologist (I have a hard time spelling it), but I think it’s about believing life on the “other side” is actually better. We think,
Maybe this is the good life.
We encounter these feelings and emotions when the hope to escape arises – a new job opens up, free counseling is offered, a friend reaches out. The door opens for us to take a step into a new life, but the chains of doubt hold us down. We believe life on the other side isn’t really better.
We stay where we are…enslaved.
Egypt
Last week, I shared the basic outline of a sermon I preached at Cross Points Church at the end of April. It gives 4 spiritual milestones every person has the chance to walk through in their life. It’s based on the story of the Israelite people (specifically in Joshua 5):
- Egypt.
- Jordan.
- Gilgal.
- Jerusalem.
Egypt – just the word makes me feel dry and despondent. Egypt represents slavery and oppression in the bible. It’s more than just a place the Israelites escaped from; it’s where all of us live at some point in our lives. I am a slave. You are a slave. We are slaves.
Freedom is available, but we are our own worst enemies.
I’ve heard modern day stories of young women enslaved in America by psycho madmen. Many of these women are literally beat into submission, so eventually they don’t need locked up to be locked down. They believe there is no hope. They believe they won’t make it out, or worse yet will die trying.
This is what the Israelite people believed. They had been enslaved for hundreds of years. They thought even God had given up on them. There was no need to be tied up. They were mentally and emotionally tied down.
This too is what we believe.
Liars!
Remember the Miracle Max scene in The Princess Bride? Inigo Montoya has brought the hero, Westley, to Max to be healed. In determining the reason for living, Westley (who is only mostly dead) declares –
True love
Max claims he did not say true love, but remember his wife Valerie? She rushes out from the next room shouting, “LIAR! LIE-RRR! Liar. Liar. Liar!”
Those holding your prisoner are liars. Like Valerie, I’m crying out LIAR! LIE-RS! Liars. Liars. They’re all Liars!
There is hope. There is a better life outside of Egypt. There is a way to be free from the bondage and oppression holding you down.
You can be free!
It might be hard work, but you can stand up, open the door, walk down the street and into a life of freedom. Today.
Egypt isn’t better, than what is awaiting you on the other side.
Stand up!
I dare you. Today. Stand up. Open the door. Walk down the street.
When you do, I’ll stand and scream out, like Miracle Max as Westley, Inigo Montoya and Andre the Giant take off on the final leg of their adventure
Have fun storming the castle!
That’s what leaving Egypt behind is.
Fun. Storming the castle.
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