- Jen Pankop
- Dec 30, 2021
- 4 min read
Has God ever brought you out of something, but not fully delivered you to the next thing? Many of us consider this the waiting period, but Caleb Southern, our youth coordinator, refers to it as the deliverance dilemma- a time when you're waiting for God to bring you into something new. We’ve all been there.
The Israelites know all about the deliverance dilemma.
As a nation of people enslaved by the Egyptians, they were treated horrifically as slave laborers for many years. Moses, following the commandment of God, comes to their rescue, setting them free from the Egyptians, and delivers them to The Promised Land, otherwise known as The Land of Milk and Honey. God brought them out of bondage and into something new and wonderful!
Caleb, however, points out that 40 years elapsed from the moment the Israelites leave Egypt and when they arrive at The Promised Land. For 40 years they were wandering around in the wilderness tired and starving. In this period of waiting they start to reminisce about what they used to have, even though they were slaves- they were still well fed. Comfort and familiarity can keep us enslaved, even when we know we're choosing the wrong path.
And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” - Exodus 16:2 (ESV)
The Israelites had been delivered out of Egypt but had not yet been delivered into The Promised Land. They were experiencing the deliverance dilemma.
They had followed God, but they were still experiencing issues. Can you relate? You gave your life to Jesus and you’re trying to be obedient, but you're still struggling in different areas of your life. Maybe with anger, temptation, depression, anxiety, and/or addiction? God is bringing you out of sin, but you're not fully delivered from it.
Here are four key takeaways from Caleb’s message, The Deliverance Dilemma, that I think will help you navigate your season of waiting.
1) Don’t choose to grumble over being grateful:
The Israelites only focused on what they did not have- meat and bread- and chose to grumble and complain. They should have been focused on the promises God had for them and all He had already done for them.
We must always focus on what we do have, choosing gratitude over grumbling and complaining.
2) Remember that God will provide:
Even though the Israelites chose to grumble and complain, God gave them grace and provided them food to eat. They didn’t deserve it, and they didn’t pray for it, but God gave it to them.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
-Exodus 16:4 (ESV)
In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. - Exodus 16:13 (ESV)
God will provide all that we need too. His provision may not look exactly like you would think, but He will provide.
3) Keep coming back for what God has for you:
God only gave the Israelites enough bread for one day at a time. They were not to store it up, but they had to keep coming back for more. God only gave them exactly what they needed for that day. We have to keep coming back to God every day for His blessings. We have to keep showing up at church, keep giving our time, talents, and treasures, keep reading the Word and praying prayers and God will keep blessing us.
And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. -Exodus 16:19-21 ESV
4) What you do today matters to the generations that come after you:
The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. -Exodus 16:35
Two generations of Israelites continued to feast on the blessings that God gave.
Have you decided to follow Christ? Have you decided to put God in the center of the generations that come after you? Will your kids and your grandchildren inherit a generational blessing or a generational curse? You get to decide if Jesus is the center of your life and your home, and that decision directly affects more than just you!
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. - John 6:35
Just like the Israelites needed bread, we do too. Jesus is the bread of life. Step into a generational blessing.
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