Normal
Bible: Exodus 14
“Your prayers are lame.” That’s how my Bible plan began today and I felt attacked haha. The plan talked about how we so often get stuck in a “prayer rut” where our prayers are repetitive, predictable, and safe. And it got me thinking about our current situation. How I’ve heard from so many people, including myself a few times, how we’re praying to get back to normal. Hoping things can get back to the way they were before Covid-19, and I just gotta say… “Our prayers are lame.”
I’m really not trying to offend anyone with this because just like you I miss being able to see friends and family. I miss being able to give someone a hug, I miss not getting worried about walking into Walmart and walking down the same aisle next to someone. I want those things back, but I really don’t want to go back to the way things were. I don’t want to go back to that rut. Because when I hear people say they want to go back to “normal” I don’t think that’s what they’re talking about. I think they’re talking about wanting to go back to familiar. The scary part is that even negative can feel “normal” because it’s familiar.
The Israelites had been enslaved by the Egyptians for many years, praying and hoping for freedom. God sends Moses to lead them to the promised land. But as you may know, this journey to the promised land takes 40 years. Before the Israelites had even made it out of Egypt though they start to think this new life is too difficult, not worth it, and we read that they say to Moses in Exodus 14:12, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.” They wanted to go back into slavery! Back to being abused, not cared for, and mistreated! Why? Not because it was normal, slavery isn’t normal - it’s not how God created life to be - but they wanted to go back because it was familiar.
There are many of you that are struggling now more than ever. Struggling with finances, with school, with anxiety and depression, struggling with not seeing people, struggling with ________ you fill in the blank. But why are you so eager to go back to a time where you still were just barely paying the bills, a time where yes your anxiety and depression were not as bad but there were still days when you didn’t want to get out of bed, a time where you got to see people in person but there was no real depth in the relationship. Why are we so eager to get back to familiar, when familiar wasn’t even that great.
I believe that God allowed Covid-19 to happen because he’s bringing us out of Egypt to somewhere great. Somewhere that’s better than where we were before Covid-19. I think what God is trying to get us to believe is that just because we don’t know something, doesn’t mean it can’t be normal. Just because you don’t know freedom from anxiety and depression, doesn’t mean it can’t become normal. Just because you don’t know a life with people who care deeply about you and love you unconditionally, doesn’t mean it can’t become normal.
We are called to a life of faith, not familiar. And faith looks forward, not backward. Faith looks forward to the promise God made to us. A promise of love & faithfulness (Psalm 100:5), of strength (Isaiah 40:31), of provision ( 2 Cor. 9:8), of rest (Matthew 11:28-30), of peace (John 14:27), and of eternal life with Him (John 3:16). So let’s stop with the “lame prayers” of going back to “normal”, or actually, what’s familiar. Let’s pray boldly for God to bring us to the Promised land, to a normal we never even dreamed was possible.
-Zach
Prayer: Pray boldly today, don’t pray your familiar prayers, but pray for miracles. Pray for God to show you the normal He is brining you into. Pray honestly about your struggles and your hurt. Pray the dangerous prayer of “your will God, not mine”.
Worship: “Faithful Now” Vertical Worship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2YHvIam5vY
Extra Credit: Pastor Steven Furtick has a phenomenal message on this, and it’s actually where a lot of my thoughts in this blog come from. Check out the message here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2HIdMPs1vE