Read: Exodus 3
Reflect: Watching our little ones run around collecting Easter eggs in the backyard brought back memories of our oldest child on her first Easter as a toddler. The then, almost two-year-old, grabbed her basket and went into the backyard with her cousins. The oldest of the cousins already knew that speed was the game and took off to grab as many as possible. Our dear child though? Well, she went up to the first egg, picked it up, opened it, and sat down to begin eating every single goldfish inside. There was no convincing her to move. She was satisfied with what she had. We tried to convince her to go get the other eggs but she was convinced she had already found the ultimate reward.
Kids can be stubborn. They dig their heels in when they think they are right. Words can do little to convince them otherwise. As the oldest cousin knew, the rewards would be much greater if he delayed the pleasure of opening the eggs and so he grabbed as many as possible. But, there were no words that could convince our two-year-old to put aside her precious egg for the possibility of more.
I often find myself holding a bit too tightly to the “eggs” that I have. We become content with where we are in life. We may be holding onto our job or our home or our daily routines with such a tight fist that we refuse to consider that God may have more for us. I often become complacent and even content in keeping what I know. I often hold those eggs of mine so tightly that I don’t even realize how much more God has to offer me. If only I would ask, “What is next?”. Had our toddler asked “What is next?” on the egg hunt we would have showed her the dozens of eggs just waiting to be grabbed. Instead, she clutched her one single egg so tightly that she missed out on all that we had to offer. How often do we cling so tightly onto what we know and completely miss the gifts God has for us in the unknown, because we refuse to listen or ask him?
I imagine that when Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flock of sheep and encountered the presence of the Lord that the shock quickly wore into disbelief over what the Lord was asking him to do. Moses was comfortable in his life at this point. He was married. He had a place to live. He had a job to do. Life probably felt a bit less complicated than it had as an Israelite living as an Egyptian. I imagine that God asking him to return to free the Israelites had him clutching pretty tightly to the egg of a life that he had. How could there be anything better out there for him than what he was doing now? Thankfully (for the Israelites), Moses was not like my toddler. He didn’t refuse the voice of God (although he did protest quite a bit). Instead, he listens and he goes to look for more eggs. He goes to Pharaoh and starts in motion the freedom of the Israelite people. Moses gets to experience gift after gift from the Lord – the freedom of his people, the parting of the Red Sea, the manna from Heaven. All of these are “eggs” that Moses would have never gathered as part of his life’s story had he said “No!”.
Apply: What are you holding onto tightly right now? When is the last time you asked the Lord for the next steps in your life and then truly listened? Lay down your eggs and actively seek what the Lord has for you. You may be surprised at what you find – in fact, it may even be better than that single goldfish filled egg that you thought was so wonderful.
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