Normal?

“So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” Moses also said, “You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD (EXODUS 16:6-8).”The Israelites lived in Egypt because of a famine in their land. One of their own (Joseph) who rose to power had been given so much favor that for years the Israelites were able to prosper and multiply. As they continued to grow and succeed, a ruler, Pharaoh, became concerned that they would soon outnumber his people so He enslaved and confined them. The Israelites went from being a nation of free people to people who were relieved of their wealth and placed in bondage. They cried out to God for years and finally God heard them and deliverance came. God led them out of captivity but when things didn’t happen the way they had hoped they grumbled and longed to go back to what was familiar, for what they’d become accustomed too. They weren’t trusting God.We’ve entered unchartered waters, situations that are unfamiliar to us. Times are uncertain, what will happen next, how do we plan, who do we trust, is there a way out, will I lose everything I worked so hard for, can there be peace in the midst of all of this, who can I trust, who can affirm that everything will be ok, has anything like this ever occurred before. We’re in a wilderness. Terrain we’ve never been before. These thoughts and concerns are not unrealistic or unreasonable. We want answers. If you’ll allow me to use a metaphor, we’re living in is Egypt. A place of bondage and we seek refuge. For the Israelites what they deemed as bondage was the wilderness, the unknown, a place and a time of testing. Testing what you ask? Testing who and what you have put your faith and confidence in and God was desirous that they would put their trust in Him. He freed them from bondage in Egypt and now He wanted to free them from trusting in their own ability and to fully trust that He loved them enough to take care of them and bringing them into the Promised Land.Are we seeking normal, what we need, or deliverance? What is normal? With so many unknowns is there really such a thing as a return to normal? Normal suggests a lack of deviation from the average so with that understanding, things will probably never go back to normal and maybe it isn’t normal we should be looking for. In this downtime people have rediscovered their kitchens, their ability to cook, learned new things about their children, begun to respect and appreciate teachers and the difficulty they have teaching not just one child but one of many, we are learning to respect positions formerly looked down upon, and most importantly many are returning their devotion to God. We are finding that the things we considered important can be gone in a whisper, some may have even begun to search inside themselves and are finding that there are things they want to change or remove from their life to experience fulfillment.When you consider we have been sequestered and unable to make decisions that go outside of our living spaces maybe it is a time for examination. Normal may not be what we are searching for, maybe what we should be considering is what we need. Food and shelter are needs; but there is a lot of things that are desired. The children of Israel wanted to go back to the familiar but the familiar enslaved them and didn’t allow them to act or respond in the freedoms that God gave. So, ask yourself, do I want normal or am I seeking freedom, freedom in Christ?