A few years ago when we first started out fresh from college, we had many dreams. Some wanted to get more education and some talked about making money. Others wanted to live in the big city far away from their parents and some wanted to stay close to parents. Some were not comfortable with change and so they sought jobs close to the college town. It did not matter that there were not so many jobs in the college town. A few friends decided to stay and as one put it, “I want to stay here for a while and figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life”. One gentleman was very blunt. He said that he was scared of leaving the comfortable and the familiar and so staying in the small college town to him was the best option. He found a job at the college copy center and married a local girl. A few years later I ran into him at a city in the southwest United States where I was attending a convention. He told me “if I had to live my life again, I would have left with you guys and sought opportunities elsewhere. You know” he continued, “Sometimes leaving makes sense than staying and I didn’t know that” he concluded. This morning, I invite you to explore that topic with me. I invite you to turn to your Bibles and follow along as we read the story of the Israelites’ wandering in the Desert as recorded in Ex. 16 : 1 – 16. I want to take as our key verse the opening in Chap. 16 :1
“Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin which is between Elim and Sinai on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 16 : 1).
Let me give you a summary of the passage. It had been two months since the Exodus from Egypt. The crowd had made their way to an oasis in the desert called Elim. Travelers in the desert were familiar with that little place of succor known as Elim. The Bible described the place as having 12 wells of water and seventy date palms (Ex. 15 : 27). Obviously, it was a place that the desert caravan looked forward to resting, getting a drink for themselves and their animals before continuing their journey. Though the name Elim has been a subject of speculation by theologians, some going as far as saying it meant “god’s” place, the name itself is suggestive of water, for other ancient tongues such as Annang who left Egypt and migrated south referred to rain and springs variously as Elim and Ilim. It was at Elim that the Israelites rested. They camped there besides the waters and had enough to drink and rested under the shadows of the palm. Yet they forgot something. Staying in Elim was not God’s plan. Yes it had water – an important resource and a highly prized commodity in the desert, but that was not God’s plan for them. God was sending them to a land of milk and honey. The Bible says that after sometime, “they set out from Elim”. Obviously, leaving the familiar and the comfortable place did not sit well with some people and so they started to complain. Look at verse 2 “And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbles against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.” Look at what others say in V.3, they exaggerate the conditions of their lives in Egypt where they said they “sat by the pots of meat” and “ate bread to the full”. Given this nostalgia, they wondered why Moses and Aaron brought them to the wilderness to kill them. Now they have forgotten about God and now grumbling against their leaders. The people forgot about God’s promises and kindness but God did not forget about his promises. God responded as God often does with kindness and mercy.
We humans are very comfortable with the familiar. You see it takes the eyes of faith to trust and believe that we may not know tomorrow but we know who makes tomorrow. Faith is hard work and change takes faith. Without faith and with no trust in the promises of the savior, we become comfortable with the familiar and denounce anyone who suggests otherwise. Elim was an easy place it had twelve wells for the drawing of water. In the desert having one well was hard enough but having 12 was incredible and so after surrounding themselves with such convenience, moving on and relying on the promise of a land with milk and honey was hard indeed and so the Israelites did what we do best. They grumbled and blamed the messengers.
You know we still do that today, we refuse to try new things and as a result miss out on a lot of opportunities. We pray a lot and when God answers our prayers we refuse to answer the call. Trying something new requires trust and faith and so we refuse to trust and refuse to follow when God’s light like a beacon calls us to move away from our Elim.
Your Elim may be a familiar town with people you think are your friends but may not be leading you in the right path. With these friends you share cigarettes, drinks, drugs and whatever else they try to push your way. With such friends ambition is absent and you do the same thing you did five years ago. Nothing changes while the years roll by. You have thought of accepting a job in another city but there are doubts and the inconvenience of starting over with new friends in a new environment and so you deal with the what-ifs. You imagine horrible things happening in the new city, in a new environment, at a new Job, and of course, you think about meeting new people and leaving a city you have lived for a long time though you have made any progress. Rather than saying Lord I may not have all the answers but I trust you to lead me on, you worry about leaving the familiar. Sometimes leaving makes more sense than staying.
Your Elim may be a bad relationship. You have suffered through so much abuse and such relationship has not contributed anything to your life and your progress except take away from who God wanted you to be. You thought about taking classes that would help your career, or break up so you can work on yourself but you have been told no one would want you and waiting on someone new may be hard, so you give up and subject yourself to abuse in the same old relationship. Change is hard and moving away from familiar comfort zones are even harder without surrendering to God and without an eye of faith.
Your Elim may be a job that though it pays the bills, is not fulfilling. You do know that you can do better and you have been asked to try something new but you are really not sure because “it just does not feel right”. We, like those ancient people in the wilderness, still struggle with dealing with change and we get very comfortable with the familiar. Making change is hard and trying new things seems to be a chore and so we blame our spouse, our friends, our children our parents and everyone else when a change is suggested. When we fail to trust God we sink in and settle with what we are familiar with. It takes the eyes of faith to see God’s hand in our future. It takes determination and trust to realize that thought the world may be a treacherous place we can navigate and walk with strength if we trust in God almighty. This is why the psalmist wrote: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me” What do you fear as you think about change? Are you resisting change because you are comfortable with the familiar? Are you settling for what comes, simply because you do not want to trust in God’s promises?
One of the most difficult decisions is moving to an unfamiliar environment. A few years ago, a lady was facing a difficult health crisis. Her two children were living overseas and the husband had passed away. It was the opinion of her doctors that she may need to move to a rehabilitation center so she could be cared for while she recuperates. Her two children agreed that it was the best option available. This lady refused to go to the center though this was for her good. It took a lot of convincing for her to move to the center which allowed her to get meals and personal care. A year after this event she came to the church and was very thankful that she had been convinced to make the needed changes for her own good. What changes are you resisting? I come here this morning to tell you that just as God took care of those men and women in the wilderness, God will take care of you if we trust in God’s promises and it is nice to know that sometimes, leaving makes sense than staying.
The question then becomes when do you know when to leave and when to stay?
1. You can answer that question not by a blind and irrational process but through prayerfully looking at your current situation. If you believe that you can do better, and you have tried everything to correct your current situation to no avail, it may be time for you to think about leaving and trying new things and new situation. A friend told me how she was allergic to chicken feathers and for years suffered and the family doctor could not figure out what was wrong with here and why she was losing weight and getting sick every time. As a teenager the parents could not even think about leaving the family doctor and seeing someone else. Everyone knew that the family doctor was the best in town and he was not only the doctor, but a friend of the family. The good doctor said he had tried everything and figured that the problem must be in the mind and so he began to prescribe anti-anxiety medication. It took a visit to a new physician for my friend to discover that what sickened her was the pillow that she was sleeping on every night. She was allergic to chicken feather. Sometimes, leaving and trying new things makes sense rather than staying.
2. When do you know when to leave? Be realistic. Do not assume that just moving to a new city will allow you to win the lottery and get rich. Not everyone who plays the lottery wins.
3. Be hopeful. Those who do not believe that the future will be better than the present hardly change their conditions. If all you see in your future is gloom and doom working for a change may be difficult. Compare where you are now and what you are doing and see how a change will change the situation for you.
4. Trust in the Lord. See Psalm 37: 3 – 7.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Compare Prov. 3 : 5 -6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Trust and do good. Trust and acknowledge God as the giver and sustainer. It is in doing this that we will discover that sometimes leaving may be better than staying. Thanks be to God, Amen
