Dear Faith Family,

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2).

Who reads that stuff?!  I had been asleep for hours.  I was awakened to the tears of my young wife.  Cyndi and I were newlyweds.  She was reading Julie by Catherine Marshall.  Now that I was awake, she explained how “good” the book was.  How good could it be if it brought my wife to tears?! 

If 2020 were a book, and for some of you it may be in your journal, it would likely bring tears to your eyes.  So why would anybody read it?!  I mean let’s move on.  Right?  2021 has to be better than 2020.

But maybe, just maybe, we need to reread the chapters of 2020?  What on earth for?  Who reads that stuff?  Why go back over such difficult memories?

It is interesting that God reminded His people, us included, of the past.  And, oddly enough, as an introduction to the Ten Commandments, God referred to the past (a rather difficult past at that).  In fact, Exodus is recorded so that we might rehearse the past.  Keep in mind that God rescued His people from slavery in Egypt.  Those difficult memories provided a backdrop for the glorious presence and work of our God.

May I then repeat the question: Why go back over such a difficult year?  A couple of reasons come to mind.  One: we have a selective memory.  We are prone to forget.  Once the “bad” hits, we find it hard to recall the good.    And our perspective is easily skewed.  We too easily befriend Alexander and end up with a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year.  Have we already forgotten the glorious presence and work of our God?

Why go back over such a difficult year?  Two: we tend to miss so much on our first read.  Recently I had occasion to be in the office of a friend multiple times.  It wasn’t until my third or fourth visit that I discovered he had some twenty hats on a cabinet in his office!  I had not noticed.  Have we noticed the glorious presence and work of our God in 2020?  Might be worth another read?

One final thought: Egypt was a backdrop to the wondrous miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea.  Can’t wait for what’s God has for us in 2021!

Who reads that stuff?!  I do.
Pastor Karl