We all love the scriptures about the ‘new’ that God has for us. Maybe a new job, tax bracket, or even a new location to call home. On the east coast of the United states, where I am located, we are transitioning from summer to fall. Meaning, I now have to pack up my sandals and shorts to make room for the sweaters and boots. The Holy Spirit has been depositing the importance of making room for the new that God has for me this last week, and I’m going to take you on that journey.

In the 16th chapter of Exodus, the children of Israel escaped Egypt and now they are complaining. ”If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death,” (Exodus 16:3 NLT). First, let’s address that they didn’t have “pots filled with meat and ate all bread they wanted,” for they were slaves to the Egyptians. If you are unfamiliar with this story, the Israelites have been under dominion of numerous nations, but in this timeline, they had been enslaved by the Egyptians for 430 years (Exodus 12:40). So here they are almost two months into transition from a very familiar bondage to the promised land (Exodus 6:8), yet because of hunger they seem to glamorize the pain of the past. Which brings up the question, what past trauma have you been glamorizing?

I know that is a hard question, but lean in a little and think about it. We too can find ourselves in those shoes whenever we decide to entertain that toxic relationship again because we’re feeling lonely. Maybe even when we start ‘forgetting’ to make a budget every paycheck because we’re trying to show out for Instagram. As we read further into the story, God has made a solution for the complaints they have. Then the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the Israelites’ complaints. Now tell them, ‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God,’” (Exodus 16:12). Here God is giving them something new to fulfill their needs but it comes with a stipulation: Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” (Exodus 16:19). It’s because the Lord said that He would do it every morning and evening so there would be no need to save for later, if not instructed to. It was a test of trust and obedience of only enjoying a season for its time and not holding a moment over.

Let’s face it, there are things, relationships, careers, and influence we have kept longer than the season permitted. Like the children of Israel, we pray for the new. But the moment we find difficulty we choose familiarity of the old. Thank God that He declares that He has a plan for us (Jeremiah 29:10), so we need not to hold on to things of the past. Just as I change my sandals for boots in the transition of seasons, so should our trust whenever we leave behind our old for the new.

Scripture Reading: Exodus 16:3; Exodus 12:40; Exodus 6:8; Exodus 16:12; Exodus 16:19; Jeremiah 29:10