Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start! A new day to rise and keep putting one foot right in front of the other.

A new day to keep walking in the ways of the Lord.

A new day to keep listening to His voice above every other voice.

A new day to keep following the glory cloud by day and the fire cloud by night.

A new day to fix your gaze upon Jesus and not be moved by any perceived roadblock or distraction.

Lock eyes with Jesus and you will never be gripped by bondage again.

My last post ended with the Israelites walking free right out of Egypt. Their freedom day came and they marched right out of bondage and into the freedom of God’s will for their lives.

And then life happened! Or what we can view as a metaphor for life. For them, a literal sea stood in the way between them and their freedom walk. They found themselves jammed between what we would call a rock and a hard place with no visible means of escape.

The Egyptians had a change of heart and began to pursue them to drag them back into bondage and as they fled, they came straight up to the Red Sea!

Massive Sea in front, and Pharoah’s army behind. No natural means of escape. They must have thought in that instant, they were going to be dead or held captive again.

NOPE, the supernatural power of God showed up.

This story displays for us what commonly happens when we are set free from bondage. We get delivered and we follow Jesus and suddenly our situation looks bleaker than before!

Bondage, slavery, addiction, and oppression can become such an integral part of our lives that when we are freed, we feel vulnerable and we want to flee back!

Why would we want to return to our old bondage?

Our “normal” coping mechanisms had become comforting. They are often intertwined with routine, daily living, and are habitual. When we get set free from bondage, these are the things we release.

It can look like numbing with people pleasing, addictions of all sorts, distractions of all types, unhealthy relationships, blurry boundaries, and whatever else that is counter to God’s perfect will for you.

As you walk free, you must cling to Jesus and often times walk in brand new places and ways that are unfamiliar. Places that are totally counter to your old life.

If you walk the familiar old path, the bondage is too easy to flee back to!

God knew this about the Israelites and He had them go a different route than what they would know easily because it would be too tempting to flee right back to the safety net of slavery. Even though slavery is bondage, there is comfort in the known.

We often fear the unknown ahead even if freedom is there. The fear of what we don’t know about the road ahead keeps us stuck in the comfort of our bondage.

So God took them a new way and this way made NO sense! It brought them to a literal WALL of water. And their previous strength and trust in the Lord quickly turned to fear and a desire to turn back. Check out this verse in Exodus! It says they left Egypt prepared for battle!

So they were ready to fight to keep their freedom if necessary! Until….. it got hard! Now check out the cry of their heart.

They came up to the Red Sea. They looked at the sea ahead. They looked at the Egyptian Army behind them and they cried out, “We were better off as slaves!”

We get uncomfortable in the perceived struggle, our old coping mechanisms have been broken off, and we feel vulnerable. Instead of fleeing into the safety of Jesus through prayer and reading the Word, we cry out!

Lie straight from the enemy! How many times have we been set free and we get out into the unknown and we cry out for the old way of living?

I should have stayed at my old job.

I need a drink, or a cigarette, or food, or affirmations from people, or some other feel good numbing chain.

Maybe that partner wasn’t as abusive as I remember. Loneliness is worse than being hurt.

I need to run back to that old habit. It was far better than this space of vulnerability.

These are lies meant to draw you right back into captivity.

Fleeing BACK to captivity from anything Jesus has healed you from is NEVER the answer to today’s hard place.

Forward in Christ, never back to slavery.

How? Press ON into the space ahead. Listen for the voice of God. Cry out. JESUS, You’ve brought me this far, I trust You to lead the rest of the way all the way to my promised land from You.

1. First part of staying free, keep your eyes ahead and on Jesus! Don’t be afraid of the daily struggles in your new freedom. They are NOT a sign to go back, but a sign to go forward. Look at what Moses said, “Calm down! Don’t be scared. Be still. Chill out. God’s got you. He will fight this battle for you. You need only be still!”

2. Move Ahead as God calls you forward even when there is a wall, mountain, or sea in front of you. If He makes a way, move ahead!

And we can learn from the Israelites! They pressed on right into the Sea!!

3. When you choose God over the old captivity, and MOVE where He calls you, He will place barriers between you and the old life that make it hard if not impossible to return!!

That’s it! There was no going back for the Israelites now! Enemy was gone. Sea closed back up. They were free. And if God has set you free, so are you! Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

No going back! Friends, this walk with Jesus is a forward march! We are continually pressing on to the new and leaving the past behind. That’s what this walk looks like! Cling to Jesus, and stay free!!

There’s a part two of this stirring in my spirit! Directions given by God to Moses on how to stay free for generations! I’ll share next!

Dear Heavenly Father,

We praise Your Holy Name for freedom and deliverance available today for us! Thank You for the Word that shows us how to walk in freedom and stay free by Following You with our whole heart. Lord, set us free today and help us to stay gazing upon You so that we walk in faith and not fear! Keep us away from the temptations that try to draw us back into captivity. Keep us following the glory cloud day and night.

In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Blessings, freedom, and deliverance for you today!!

Vanessa Lynn