Stepping Out in Faith
And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1-3)
The relationship between God and God’s people is based on the people’s experience of God as one who has acted on their behalf. From the mountain at Sinai, where Moses received the 10 Commandments, God has reminded the people of this track record – God can be counted on! And in return God demands complete devotion and loyalty.
We enter a new month that focuses on life as pilgrimage, a journey. The Exodus story is just that kind of story. It is the story of the journey of a people who go from being slaves in one place to landowners in another. It is a story of moving from captivity to freedom. It is a story about moving from oppression to being able to make their own way in the world.
A striking thing about this journey is that it is in the middle of the journey that the people get their identity. Neither their captivity in the past nor their freedom in the future are the key to who they are and what they are about. It is their encounter with God in the wilderness, the place in between the two ends of the journey, which gives them insights about who they are as a people.
This is instructive. It is not the end of the journey that tells us who we are. It is what we discover along the way. The courage to leave something behind and risk stepping out into the unknown places in our lives can open up possibilities for learning who we are and hearing new insights from God in ways that would never be possible by just playing it safe and staying put.
Journeys are not always physical and involving travel. They can be both external or internal. They can involve any aspect of our lives. What might God be wanting to share with you and what do you need to let go of in order to discover? How might stepping out in faith open up something new for you?