Who am I?
God gives us a great example of this in the account of Israel leaving Egypt. You remember the Children of Israel were slaves in Egypt for 400 years. They grew up identifying themselves as slaves. That is the only identity they knew. They acted like slaves, they thought like slaves, and they taught their children to act and think like slaves. But one day a man named Moses was sent from God. Moses told them that they were not intended to be slaves, and that God has something far more wonderful for them. God wanted them to be free!
God had prepared a wonderful place for them, a promised land where milk and honey flowed freely. They couldn’t wait, because in their hearts, they wanted to be free. God showed them His mighty power in sending ten plagues on the Egyptians, and then by the power of God they were sent out of the only land they had ever known. They followed Moses through the Red Sea, and trusted the promises of God. Because of the plagues and the destruction of Egypt, they could not go back; they were now committed. Even if they wanted to go back they could not, they were in a sense dead to Egypt.
The Children of Israel walked from the Red Sea to the Jordan River, and God told them, now that you have trusted me and come out of Egypt it is time for you to trust me with one more thing. Cross this Jordan River and allow me to run your life. The children of Israel were scared. They decided to send twelve men across the river to spy it out and see what they should expect. When the ten men got back, two of them told about the great abundance that awaited them, and how God was going to provide for them. The other ten spies told about the giants that they saw, and how hard they thought it would be to live there because of the enemies they would face. God told the Children of Israel not to worry about the giants, if you will trust Me, I will drive them away and you won’t have to. Because of their unbelief, they decided not to cross over the river.
God was disappointed with their decision and because of the decision they made they spent 40 years walking around in a desert place called the wilderness of sin. It was not until all but two of the adults that had been alive at the decision not to cross the river, Joshua and Caleb, the two spies that saw what God wanted for them, had died that the Children of Israel were allowed to enter into the Promised Land at last.
