Has God ever invited you to take off those rose-colored glasses?! Have you ever begun a sentence with, “I would never” or, “How could they”?! Me too!!!

As we read the story of God’s amazing rescue of the Israelites in Exodus, you may be tempted to ask yourself those very same questions. From the plagues, to the manna, to God’s clear leading with a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, how could they not trust and obey?! And don’t get me started on the Red Sea! Let yourself imagine for one minute being part of the multitude crossing on dry ground surrounded on both sides by walls of water. That’s a jaw-dropping, show-stopping, drop-the-mic kind of miracle if there ever was one! And yet, they complained of God’s provision, bemoaning the fact that they no longer had the choice foods of Egypt. Moses’ own brother and sister talked about him behind his back, criticizing his choice of wife! 

It’s really easy for us to judge and be critical because we have the advantage. We are looking back! So too with my story!!! On paper, I had both parents, never divorced. I had a middle-class upbringing, raised in church. My choice should have been obvious. Trust and obey for there’s no other way, but I didn’t. I too, like the Israelites, wandered in the desert for what seemed close to 40 years! The path was clear, like the 250 miles from Egypt to the Promised Land.

Comparison kills! It either puffs us up with arrogance and pride or causes us to minimize the miraculous in our lives because it doesn’t look like someone else’s. In my experience, God never asks us to let go of something without having something better in mind for us. He is inviting you to trade in those rose-colored glasses and see how their story relates to your’s. Do you identify with the Israelites? Can you empathize with what they must have gone through? Most of all, do you see HIM in the story?! It’s all HIS STORY anyway!