The Exodus

1.     Intro

There is a change in season. If we just lift our eyes above the nitty-gritties of life and see – we’ll see there is a season shift not just for the people of God i.e the global Church, but also in the politics of the world, the international trade and business, the geographical structure of countries - everything is suddenly changing. This change I believe, isn’t a passive / gradual one – it’s swift, sudden and almost aggressive in nature. This season is like an ‘overnight’ season! Overnight US changed the trade laws. Overnight the nation of Israel came into a state of war. Overnight we had demonetization. Overnight 430 years of slavery came to an end! (Ref Exodus 12:41)

What once always was – is there no longer. What was never there – has suddenly come into being.

2.     Understanding Time and Seasons

Ecclesiastes 3 talks about a ‘Time for everything’ (Ref Eccles 3:1-8). Let’s read it together.

1.     This is significant to understand that times and seasons are set by the Sovereign will of the Lord. They are not and cannot be programmed by man. People who resist this change unfortunately fight a losing battle – they waste their time and emotions in trying to hold on to something which has passed its expiry date. Whatever they are trying to hold on to becomes stale and

unsatisfying. There is stagnation, like reaching a dead-end. But those who yield themselves to the move of the Lord, however unsettled and uncomfortable they maybe with the changes there is life – a progressing, a movement.

2.     When the season changes, everything concerned with a person changes. Relationships and relationship dynamics change. There is suddenly a switch in careers or even within current jobs. Lifestyle and interests change. What once interested us deeply – no longer draws us. There is a reason behind all of it. We cannot understand it by logic – It is an orchestration of the Lord. No one can beat Him in His planning! He is beyond the greatest Hollywood directors who come up with the greatest plot twists! The sudden changes are not   of   man,   they   are   a   set-up   by   the   Lord.

3.     Now what is the timeline? How long is a ‘season’? We don’t know exactly – for some it’s 2 years, for some 12 years, for some 22 years or more. We look to the Bible to understand this. For Joseph there was a sudden shift in his season after a period of approx. 13 years. But for the people of Israel there was a season shift after 430 years! Only the Lord knows your timings. So it is important to be tuned to the Lord and see your regular life from His lens. You will know when a season shifts.

I believe there is a rapid aligning of the different pieces of our lives leading us to a point of destiny. The Lord is turning the ship. These things in our lives – people, situations, relationships, jobs, timing etc everything is aligning towards that point of destiny.

3.     The Shift

So what are we talking about? What is going to shift? What will it look like in the natural?

Let’s read Exodus 1:11-14.

“So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.”

Here the basic pre-occupation of people is shown to be hard labour as a lifestyle. Work is a pressure, a non-negotiable aspect of life in order to survive. There was a set routine which was a vicious cycle that one couldn’t get out of. The work never gave any joy, didn’t add any meaning, didn’t make one feel alive. It was just a matter of survival. In basic terms, it was called slavery.

Now let’s read Deuteronomy 11:10-12, 14-15.

“The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.  then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn

and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.”

Here also there is work – no excuse to set up a hammock and do nothing. But here, there is a different sense. There is a hope, an expectation, a dependency on the Lord. We have switched from ‘work to survive’ to ‘work to satisfy’ (satisfy not our carnal cravings and wants, but our true selves – who we were always made to be.)

Work here takes on different meaning – the yoke is not on our back. There isn’t a sense of oppression and pressure. There is responsibility and accountability accompanied with great hope and expectation. (There is a different weight that comes when you are responsible for something and different weight altogether when you are oppressed by something)

Why is this contrast being highlighted?

I believe this is the shift that the Lord is preparing us for. The things that were the norm in Egypt are not the norm in the Promised Land. It’s a different setting. The Lord is changing the ‘default settings’ of life for a lot of people.

Unfortunately, there are some of us who prefer slavery (we just don’t call it by that name) – just because it’s become our familiar comfort setting. We don’t want anyone to come and change the status quo. But God is not okay with default slave- settings! Be it any aspect of our lives – not just work. That’s why after getting the people out of Egypt, He really had to work hard to get Egypt out of the people!

Please dear friends, understand that this isn’t about corporate life vs ministry work. Sadly, our brains are programmed to think so limited in 2025. This isn’t about just “work” as the aspect. This picture is about life itself. Living a life of such fullness where we know that we don’t make anything happen! It’s the mercy of the Lord. So there is no pressure, rather there is a great relief, a great dependency! There is a sense of great security that everything is taken care of. We don’t have to work and figure it all out. Who we’ll marry, where we’ll settle, what we’ll do – it’s all sorted!

(For the people who think all this is just fluke, just some spiritual talk – have you never met people living like this? With a passion for life, with great contentment and great excitement irrespective of whether they have millions in the bank or the last thousand!? I have! These are the people who make the enemy and his agenda look like what it actually is - a complete fluke! They have got the game and are flying

with it. While the enemy holds on to those who take his bait and keep running the treadmill never reaching anywhere!)

How is this shift going to happen?

a)     Some of us are going to get into a very personal space with God – a one-on- one space where we will be confronted with a lot of things (just as we heard how Jacob had his one-on-one with the Lord). The Lord will bring about an exposure and a revelation of our true selves. We will begin to know our deep hidden strengths, that we didn’t know existed, our underlying biases, our weaknesses and hidden sins – all of which only the Lord can see.

b)     Some of us are going to get into very public spaces – be it ministry, be it business or a new work environment or a new relationship setting like marriage, anything that concerns a whole diff set of people and dynamics. These are also going to be spaces where all that we are will be put on display! Imagine if we haven’t been pruned and polished by the Lord’s hands – what is going to be on display?!

Public spaces come with magnifying lenses. Everything gets highlighted and magnified. It could be extremely uncomfortable because before too long, people will see us for what we truly are. We could either be fantastic examples of excellence and character or could be really poor representatives of the Kingdom. But even in that, the Lord continues to shape us and train us. Sometimes what we refuse or resist being corrected in a personal setting, justifying ourselves - we get disciplined in a public setting with a harsh aftertaste.

Irrespective of our personalities (extroverts / introverts) and our preferences let’s agree to move with the Lord – to whichever space He is taking us into!

I’d like to remind here, that just last week there are some of us who committed our calendars to the Lord – that wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. How did that happen? Can you see what the Lord is doing – the connect here? I believe it was a

very intentional laying out that the Lord did – asking for your agreement before He begins. Ofc the Lord can do anything He chooses to, but He values agreement more than we know!

4.     Guidelines during this time:

i.            Trust the Lord – He is your Father; He won’t lead you into danger. You don’t have to be on guard for your own security. Read Psalm 23: 2-4 – The onus is on the Lord. He knows when the sheep needs refreshing, when the sheep needs rest, when the sheep needs to go down the valley. He knows what we need.

ii.            Do not resist the changing dynamics of the season. Don’t try to hold tightly to what the Lord is gently tugging at. Let go – not as if we are doing a favour to the Lord, but that He is the boss of your life and if He wants something gone, then so be it. Continually say to yourself – Let the Lord have His way, I surrender to Him. Our continual words of surrender will be like the rudder of a ship – steering us the way we ought to go. This is a very practical, tried and tested way.

iii.            Don’t be fake / dishonest. The Israelites didn’t really like leaving Egypt – even though they were crying to be free! Even through the journey towards the Promised Land, they kept looking back longingly to their familiar slave cubicles.

Ø There was a big gap between what they professed (“The Lord is great, The Lord is good and has come to our rescue” etc etc) and what they truly felt (Why did He even bring us into this wilderness? Can God really spread a table in the wilderness!? Read Psalm 78 – Imagine it’s recorded!)

Ø What was the problem? The problem was that they didn’t switch inside. All they needed was a RESOLUTION within to go with the Lord, instead they threw tantrums through the way – with no idea of how they are hurting the Lord with their resistance. Let’s read Psalm 78:40- 42, 52-57.

Ø They sadly never made it to their destiny. But neither did they get back to their place of comfort! They died in-between. We read this in Hebrews 3:16-17.

Ø Irrespective of how we feel (scared/nervous/lonely/upset) in this shift, once we say – “Lord, over to you”; let us stay true to our word. Don’t say – Ofc Lord with you and keep looking for a side exit door! Don’t try to be over-smart in your own eyes, formulating a Plan B in the back of your mind – while giving God the impression that we are still on His plan! It just doesn’t work! He is GOD! When He says Switch – switch!

Ø Be honest with God – He gives you the will, the ability and the strength to walk the walk! We are not an in-between people! We are a DESTINY PEOPLE!

5.     Conclusion

If our hearts are made up of pagan altars (of money, careers, relationships etc) where we make a mockery of the real God by pouring out our everything (time, emotions, effort and energy) at this altar – isn’t it good if our corrupted heart is broken and the Lord makes a new one? One which is cleansed and empty and beautiful? It’s a tough question – but isn’t it better to have the heart broken so it can be made new again and be sanctified? For some of us, there will be brokenness in this season – but the Lord gives perspective through the words of Jeremiah 18: 1-6 and great comfort in Psalm 34:18.

The Lord is not someone who takes some sadistic pleasure in torturing His people. He is more like a surgeon who wants to remove the cancer to rescue the person. It’s as simple as that.

Dear people, I believe that our good, wise, merciful, loving Father is inviting us to freedom and to a future better than what we could ever build ourselves. ‘Dream with me’ is what He asks you to do. Let us trust Him who gave us this life to live. He will lead us like a shepherd.

I’d like to close by reading Psalm 23.

He is Faithful.

Amen