Sep 25, 2019 3 min
We are living in troubled times. No one, saint or sinner, would deny that. Violence surrounds us on all sides. Diseases are rampant. Many are facing economic uncertainty. Natural disasters rage out of control. People struggle to recall a time of such dire distress. Perhaps, in the minds of most, the times in which we live are absolutely unparalleled. And yet, there was a time (a snapshot of time actually) when trouble threatened the existence of an entire nation of people. Come, for a moment, with me to the land of ancient Egypt. If you listen carefully, you will hear the anguished cries of a people mercilessly oppressed by the iron bands of bondage. The excruciating emotional and physical pain of their plight motivated them to appeal to their God for deliverance. And their God heard. And their God answered: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmaster [and] I have come down to deliver them” (Exodus 3:7-8).
It took some doing, but God convinced Moses to accept the call of Israel’s deliverer. Pharaoh, on the other hand, would not be so easily convinced to let the Israelites go free. In his determination to maintain control over the Israelites and to preserve his self-imposed, and consequently false, sense of divinity, he boldly withstood God’s plan for Israel’s deliverance. But the defiance of men can never avert the plans of God. And so, a series of unrelenting plagues would eventually bring Egypt to a place of acquiescence. For her defiance, however, Egypt was visited with crop-destroying locusts, plagues of boils and darkness, a contaminated water supply, and the death of first-born sons. At every turn, the Egyptians were confronted with disasters that threatened their very existence. There was nowhere to run. The Egyptians were surrounded.
And yet, there was a place in Egypt called Goshen. Goshen was where the Israelites (God’s people) lived. In Goshen, there were no plagues. The people in Goshen could abundantly water their cattle while the Egyptians could not even hope for a drop of water to quench their thirst. The people of Goshen were never sick, in darkness, hungry, distressed or bereaved. While trouble assailed Egypt on every hand, Goshen was untouched. The reason for this distinction is revealed in God’s words to Moses: “But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel” (Exodus 11:7).
God knows how to separate the righteous from the wicked. He knows how to take care of His people in the midst of trouble (see Psalm 91:7-10). Given the times in which we live, this is great news! We are not at all like the world. Though we face trouble, God has made a way of escape for us (I Corinthians 10:13). In the time of trouble, you should always look for God’s way of escape. It may involve a journey, but the journey will eventually lead out of trouble. God is good even when times are bad. What that means is that the hopelessness that pervades the world has no place in us. So the next time you are tempted to worry about the economy, consider Goshen. The next time terrorism rears its ugly head anywhere near you, consider Goshen. As diseases abound, consider Goshen. When trouble appears as far as you can see, consider Goshen. Even in the midst of racial polarization, consider Goshen. And remember that in Goshen, the people were safe, absolutely unaffected by surrounding trouble. Rise up: Goshen is waiting for you!
God bless you, as you continue to hear and obey His Voice!
