Live Dead Joy: 30 Days of Living and Dying with JesusSample

“The Comforts of Slavery”

Slavery has its securities. For example, when Moses led God’s people out of bondage, suddenly they had to fend for themselves. Water was hard to come by in the desert, and at least back in Egypt there were onions and garlic. With Pharaoh’s armies pressing in, the people complained: “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? . . . Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’?” (Exod. 14:11–12). Some people prefer the small world of a prison, where at least they get three free meals a day.

Kenneth Bailey points out that Jesus addressed a similar question when He met blind Bartimaeus: “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51). Jesus obviously knew the man was blind, so in effect He was saying, “If I deliver you from the slavery of blindness, you can no longer beg for a living. Food will not be dropped in your outstretched hands; you will have to work for it. Do you really want the challenges of being free?”

We often love our chains. We hold on to our aches and pains because they earn us sympathy. We hold on to our anger and jealousy because they serve as fuel and motivation. We hold on to the blankets of our insecurities because they warm us in some strange and twisted way. To be free from what enslaves us brings us to the wall of the Red Sea, and we exchange the comforts of slavery for the challenges and responsibilities of freedom.

Interestingly, if we can press on, the boundaries become walls of protection. The sea that restricted the escaping Israelites became “a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (Ex. 14:22). It became their protection from the enemy. Our walls of protection are somewhat different. Praise is our protection. When we exalt the one who is “fearful in praises” (15:11), we engage a spiritual secret: Praise brings victory and deliverance. From the despair of being forsaken (Ps. 22:1), the psalmist acknowledged the holiness of God. The psalmist declared that God is enthroned in the praises of His people (22:3) and that He delivers those who trust in Him. If slavery (oppression, rejection, trouble) leads us to praise, we have the comfort of knowing that God will deliver us. Praise is our comfort in trial.

Pray for the Unreached:

Balkan Gagauz Turkish, Yoruk of Turkey

414,000

0.0% Evangelical

Pray that believers among the Balkan Gagauz Turks would proclaim the message of the gospel clearly and would make the most of every opportunity God places before them (Colossians 4:2-5).