“You in Your mercy have led forth

the people whom You have redeemed.”

Exodus 15:13

I love when airports have moving sidewalks.  I have a jaunty green and white carry-on bag that I bought on Kauai several years ago.  It has turtles all over it, and it is the perfect – and I mean the perfect – size.  Six side pockets and a large main compartment, so I can be perfectly organized {or obsessive-compulsive whatever} and know where everything is.  Plus, it evokes Kauai for me, so it makes me happy when I’m carrying it.

Its only drawback is: it has no wheels.  So by the time I arrive at the boarding area, after snaking through the security line, unpacking my electronics, and de-shoeing; then  re-packing and re-shoeing, I’m getting pretty tired.  So I love to see a moving sidewalk along the way.  I get to heave my cheery “honu” {that’s Hawaiian for “turtle”} bag up on the handrail, and it moves along next to me while my shoulder gets a break.  And I make progress, while doing nothing more than standing still.  I stand over to the right, while all those hurrying folks move past me on the left.  And I may not be going as fast as they are, but I’m not where I was a minute ago.

Is it disrespectful to say that God is like a moving sidewalk?  Because this is the image that is evoked in my mind when I read today’s verse in Exodus.  God leading His people forth.  What kind of freedom from bondage would it be if He had led them out slavery in Egypt, only to have them all stand around thirty miles outside town?   He had a plan for them, and it involved growth and progress.  It’s the same with us.  I am redeemed, but that is by no means the extent of His plan for me.  I can be standing still, or even moving backwards on the sidewalk, but I will still be moving toward His plans for me.  {Though it might take longer if I’m moving backwards!}  He promises, in His mercy, to lead forth His redeemed.   So grab your bag and place your trust in Him!

~ “the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne

will shepherd them and lead them” ~

Revelation 7:17

~

Originally published on January 21, 2011