Ten Foot Tall and Bulletproof...eh...notsomuch.

I've been trying to write this blog for 3,4,5,6...7 days now...Anybody want a pair of youngsters who are into everything at the top of their lungs and DEMAND attention???..ummm...maybe I should rephrase that...Anyone want a precious pair of youngsters who are joyful and love quality time??

Here's to a 100th attempt to get this all out...(Deep Cleansing Breath) Annnnnndddd...Here we go:

SERIOUSLY??? I JUST sat down and now Tucker (who was bringing our Dobie, Ronan, in because it's getting ready to storm) just came in and told me he got lose...sigh...I'll be back in a bit. Got a great big goofy gallute to track down....smh.

OK! NOW! That's taken care of...lets get going before the world as we know comes to an end and I get 'activated'...haha....this life of mine, lol...never a dull moment!

Ok, I've been reading thru my bible again.

I've been asking Him to show me new things, or remind me of things I had forgotten.

I've been overloaded with the gold buried in a few words...Ho-ly COW!

I may not get it all out in these blogs-o'-mine, but what I DO get out...man! Well...now that I think about it...I hope that some of you already know what I'm saying...that He's already told you the same things. ANYWHO!
I'm not going to start in order. I'll just post what I think is the thought of the day....well, I may not be able to do it everyday, but you get the jist, right? Good GRIEF, my thoughts are everywhere right now...

Jesus, My Beloved, calm my thoughts and make them clear. I'm in Your arms, I know it because I can feel Your breath on my face. Help me to calm down and be still. I feel like a frikkin chihuahua on speed this morning! OK! Better now!

ANNNNND disclaimer: If my thoughts seem a bit scrambled in places, keep in mind that I DO have SIX kids living at home and it IS summer break......only (mentally tabulating the days of summer left....sigh) a whole lot of days until school starts again....no. I love having them home with me. I love my children. They are blessings from God...

Does anyone else have to remind themselves of that or am I the ONLY mom who looks in the mirror, somedays, and tells Daddy, "I am NOT the one...You got the WRONG woman for THIS job.." Hahahaha

ANYWHO! EXODUS! GOOD STUFF THERE! Let's dig in!

You know? I started to say, "We all know the story of Moses.." but I won't.

There seems to be an epidemic of biblical illiteracy among God's people these days. We seem to take the bible that our pastors give us and push the plate away after that...veritably starving our inner man/woman and at the same time(we dont think along these lines very much) starving the next generation who feeds off of our knowledge...maybe if our kids are not quite as 'spiritual' as we think they should be, if their characters are falling way short, or if they dont know the principles that will ultimately give them REAL life and freedom...maybe it's because they cant feed off of a starving carcass. If the momma is starving, there ain't no milk for baby. Jes sayin. END RANT.

Where we begin, Pharaoh has just given the green light for the mass exodus of the Hebrews out of Egypt. Take a bit and read the story starting at chapter 1.

EX 13: 17-18

"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.' So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea." The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle."

A few things I noticed...kinda in backwards order:

#1) The Israelites went up out of Egypt "armed for battle".
#2) God knows His people.
#3) God led them the long way around...to the Red Sea.

#1) Cant you just see it? The victorious exit of the once enslaved people, set free from hard labor. Finally free from the tyranny of Pharaoh and dressed for battle. Feeling ten foot tall and bullet proof, they march triumphantly out of bondage.

"Oh yeah, we just left the big, bad, mighty Pharaoh in the dust...WHOOP WHOOP!"

Ha ha! I can SO picture their joy and pride as they celebrate their way out of slavery. God did it! He delivered them! Oh, HAPPY DAY!

Ever had one of those exoduses? A victorious deliverance from a severe and debilitating bondage? You feel ten foot tall and bullet proof...like you could conquer the world. You come out marching in your signature, special-edition battle gear and, WOOT! Happy Day!

#2) I love how God sees the reality instead of the illusion. To look at the children of Israel, you would assume that they were warriors...and mighty ones at that...what, with sporting all their battle gear and victorious celebration, but God KNEW what was really going on under the surface. He knew that deep inside, in the back of their minds...they were nervous about this celebrated freedom. I mean, that generation had never known anything but slavery. They weren't warriors...infact, their armor was probably Egyptian...(I cant prove that biblically. It's just my opinion based on the fact that they WERE slaves and that the Egyptians gave them basically everything when they left.)

God knew that, inspite of appearances, if these fake warriors faced a battle with REAL warriors, they wouldn't even give Him the chance to intervene on their behalf. They would've high-tailed it right back to Egypt and the bondage He had just freed them from. So, knowing that they had just left hard labor and their bodies were physically conditioned so they COULD, He led them the LONG way around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.

Yall, we get set free and we come out feeling like THE STUFF. We are READY. Ready to get as far away from our bondage as we can...as FAST as we can! We tough! We got it!

But God sees past our borrowed battle armor and beastly facade to the anxious ex-slave that will bolt if we have to actually face an enemy. He sees the fake warrior and knows the REAL warriors that we will come up against if he takes us the shortest route to our complete freedom. So, knowing that we are conditioned for hard things, and that we can handle the trek, He takes us the long way. The safe way.

#3) He led them around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The LONNNNNG way around.

You know? Scripture isnt clear about whether or not the shortest way would've led them to the Red Sea, but it IS clear that the long way did. And something else it's clear about is this:

It was a desert road.

So not only did it take longer than it "should've",  it was also dry, hot, uncomfortable, and everything you think a desert should be....

Code language: NOT fun.

ANNNND He led them TO the Red Sea...knowing that He was going to harden Pharaoh's heart again and the dude was going to chase after them like a fat-kid chases cake.

Why would He DO that? Why not make it EASY for them?? I mean, they DID just come out of hard labor and bondage, right?

See, we tend to think that if God delivers us, that the road out of that deliverance should be easy...devoid of struggles and effort...and sometimes, we DO seem to experience what appears to be a "season" of rest...but in all honesty, if you really think about it, it's not a season of rest at all.

Its the SAME road.

It just seems like rest because of the severity of the slavery we just came OUT of....

Once we get a little freedom under our belts...once we get a little distance away from that slavery...once we start getting accustomed to the 'non-slave' life...we start thinking that the road gets harder and dry and then we like to accuse God of making it harder for us or we even will spiritualize it by saying:

"I'm going thru a wilderness time...bless God.."

or

"I'm going thru a time of testing..."

No you're not. You're still leaving bondage...you've just forgotten how severe it really was.

Or how 'bout this one?

"God WHY?! Why did you lead me out here to die??"

Sound familiar? It should...if you actually READ your Word. 

The children of Israel said it....alot.

Haha...Conditions on the road haven't changed...just your PERCEPTION of the conditions have.

The longer we travel the desert road, the more difficult it seems and we think, "My GOD, how long must this go ON?!" But see, God knew before hand that we could handle the trek. Just like the Hebrews whose bodies were conditioned to the climate and  accustomed to hard labor...they were physically ready to travel the hard way. He would've NEVER led them on a path they weren't physically capable of handling.

Infact, in reality, He used the bondage they had been in to their favor and advantage. Scripture doesnt say that a single person was lost in the trek. Even the very old and very young made it to the Red Sea. 

He uses our bondages to our advantage. No, He doesn't WANT us to be in slavery EVER. But when, whether by our decisions or the decisions of others, we find ourselves enslaved, He will use the hardships we endured to help us make the trek to complete freedom...

Because He's God.

Because He's Above Time.

Because He Redeems Our Past, Our Present, and Our Future.

And we get bored with the journey...we demand to know WHY it's taking so LONG to get to the promise that He gave us.

I mean, afterall....Isn't that how it works?? We get the VISION and it happens IMMEDIATELY?? 

HAHAHAHAHAHA....oh..I'm sorry. Some of you actually thought that. ;P

Yall, He doesn't lead us the lonnnnnnnng way to prolong our torture, lol. He takes us that way because #1) He wants to protect us. #2) He wants us to STAY delivered. #3) He believes in us for more than we give ourselves credit for.

I see it all the time with ppl who approach me about health and weight loss.

Those of you who have known me for a while know that I have not always been thinner. Weight has ALWAYS been an issue for me. At one point, I weighed 194 pounds. The weight didnt just magically fall off. I had to change my habits and my lifestyle....and when I get lazy, I begin to pick up pounds again. I'm not the naturally skinny one. If I'm going to be healthy, muscular, and thin, I have to work on it everyday.

Ppl (mainly women) will approach me and ask me to help them lose weight and get healthy. When I tell them my regimen and what I did and what I do,  95% of them will get this 'deer in the headlights' look and say the same thing....betcha can't guess what it is...

"I don't think I can do all that..."  or  "I think I'll have to start slower and work my way up to it" or "It really took you that long?"

Reality check. It's called fear of failure and/or laziness. Our bodies are capable of SO much more than we give them the opportunity to prove....will we be HORRIBLY sore the next week?? Uhhhhhh...lol...you may want to just campout in the bathroom so you dont have to use your legs to get up, hahaha.... But did you do it?? YES!!

Does it take a while to change your life and drop all the extra weight? YES!! But can you do it? YES!!

Is the journey out of bondage long and hard? YES! But can you make it? YES!!

Okay...here's the last thing...GRIEF, this is a LONG one!

God led them the long way around to the Red Sea...an apparent dead end. To the human eye, a failure on God's part...but oh.

Oh..Oh..Oh..

Just when we think we are going to be done for....the impossible happens...the miraculous happens...and He planned it all along...

Because He's God.

Because He Loves To Show Out For His Kiddos.

Because He ADORES Us.  

SO!

If you are wondering why it's so hard, Remember what it USED to be.

If you are wondering why it's taking so long to get where He told you you were going, think about the battles you WONT have to fight.

If you have hit a 'dead end' and you are questioning, remember the miraculous.

Sometimes, He takes us the long way around, to protect us and just to amaze us making it SO undeniable by the world that He is God.

If you are on the 'desert road'...like I am right now...Get pumped!! He's got a miracle waiting for you when you hit the Red Sea.

So, Exodus 13:18a according to me? The NH(Nicki Harris) Version? 

"So God led the people around the difficulty by the desert road toward the MIRACULOUS!"