‘Thus, it was a cloud and darkness to the one and it gave light by night to the other …’ Ex 14:20.
In life, our choices determine our experiences, and they determine the realities that define our lives. Every day we make good and poor decisions which perpetuate these realities.
Now, what we believe tend to dominate our decision-making process and therefore our lives’ outcomes. We can affirm that our belief system determine how we evaluate the events in our lives since these events are governed by our choices.
In life, we may travel on the same lane, live in the same house, or even share the same womb at birth, however, what will define our experience and even rewards are the choices we make which are often rooted in our belief system, and this belief system continue to shape our realities.
God presented a concept of choice to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 30:15,19 to help shape their realities and better their experience saying, ‘ See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction, and He also painted an outcome of the choices before them, ‘I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live’.
In the light of the above, one may ask: Why do many people find it hard to follow godly realities when they are confronted with the harsh realities of life?
Now, a choice to follow God does not necessarily mean an invitation to opulent and luxurious life and it does not also mean a life without rewards, but many get discouraged and embrace alternative realities when they discover that this life does not offer instant gratification to satisfy selfish desires.
God is in the business of weaning people from natural selfish desires and turning them into a community of spiritual minded people, often through trials and sometimes tribulations. (Acts 14:22).
To believers who are grounded in this truth, they no longer evaluate their experiences in the light of the ‘harsh realities’ that it brings but more in the light of what such experiences mean to their spiritual growth.
As they continue to grasp this truth, they allow it to govern their choices therefore deepening their faith in the Lord Jesus whom the bible calls the Author and Finisher of this belief system-our faith. (Hebrews 12:2).
Between the children of Israel who served Jehovah and the idol worshipping Egyptians, shortly before crossing the red sea, there was a demarcation of cloud, but the issue is how God revealed himself to both groups through the same cloud and what the cloud meant to each group.
In Ex 14: 20 we read that it was the same cloud that divided them, same nocturnal experience but how they saw the cloud differed, while Egypt saw it as darkness Israel saw it as a light giver, and a life giver as well.
For Joseph there was a glorious dream, but as he understood that his harsh realities of slavery and imprisonment were a fuel to his spiritual growth, the darkness of imprisonment could not blackout his vision.
His firm faith in the God of Israel continually defined his choices in the face of temptations and trials, his harsh realities prepared him for a greater good. We found that Joseph was 17 when he was sold into Egypt. He was in prison for 2 years but was made Prime Minister in Egypt at the age of 30. Joseph died at the age of 110.
Ultimately, God is preparing a people for a greater reality, a greater glory that this world has never witnessed. His ultimate purpose is this: “to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.” (Romans 9:23).
However, to be part of this imperishable reality is a recurring choice laid before all generations.
In John 2:17, we read that ‘this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever’. The stakes are high, the stakes are our eternal souls and there is never a better time than this perilous time to cast our lot with Christ.
As we make our choices between the perishing certainty of this life and that of the imperishable realities of God, let us consider Isaiah 51:6:
‘Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail’.
Read Ex 14: 5-3
