Fear creeps in when God takes us from the familiar to the unfamiliar. The children of Israel were in Egyptian bondage for centuries; this was all that they knew. The taskmaster’s constant pressure to produce bricks without straw placed tremendous toil on their minds, bodies, and souls. God sent Moses to deliver his people. Following the plagues in Egypt, Pharaoh released them so they could go and worship God in the desert. They left the familiarity of bondage behind, only to be confronted with an unfamiliar future ahead. The Red Sea represented their future; in contrast, the pursuit of Pharaoh’s army represented their past. As their past caught up with them, and the thought of having no way out, the idea of dying in the desert started to consume them.
When we leave what’s familiar—family, friends, community, the way of life as we know it—fear will rear its ugly head. The thoughts of what if, I’m not qualified, I’m not good enough, or what others will think can consume us and cause us to look back and desire the past. But to go where we have never been, and to see all that God has for us, we must be willing to step out into the unfamiliar. This step, my friend, takes faith. Are you willing to step out into the unfamiliar to find your familiar?
Labor with the Creator 