I Will...

Day one hundred fifteen

The good memories of a great Easter day with my family have given me a good attitude today, in spite of all the rain!  I prayed with gratitude for the good memories that I can lean on when I need to bring some joy into my life and asked that my life might be filled with many more!

Exodus Chapters 5-6

"It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it." ~ Lena Home

This could be the theme for the Israelite slaves of the Book of Exodus.  Moses had come and shared the message that God loved them and would deliver them from their present bondage (Ex 4:29-30).  It appears this message was met with excitement as the "people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped." (Ex 4:31).  Their burdens seemed lighter with the knowledge that God was taking care of them, but Pharaoh would put an end to the excitement.  He increased their work and ordered the taskmasters to be more cruel than usual.  It didn't take long for the excitement to turn to anger: "And they said unto them, The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us." (Ex 5:21)

I can understand their frustration and anger towards Moses.  There have been times in my life when the burdens I have had to bear felt overwhelming and I have thought to myself: How can it be true that God loves me if He lets these things happen to me?  I believe a lot of people have felt this same way. We lose site of the fact that God is still there, we try to carry the burdens all by ourselves, and that is when we start to break down. If we were to stop and really evaluate the situation we would have to ask ourselves; who walked away from whom?    

In his frustration, Moses goes to the Lord with his concerns and receives seven "I will" statements from the Lord. (Ex 6:6-8).  These are promises that the Lord intends to do on the behalf of the slaves.  As we consider each promise, it becomes clear that they were meant to bring hope to the hearts of the people of God.  Since we are also the people of God I want to look at how these promises relate to us too.

I will...

bring you out from under your burdens. 
Burdens are those things that trouble us; our worries, our concerns, our problems.  We all have burdens.  What a great blessing this is to know that the Lord will help you deal with your burdens.  How does this work?  We are told to "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." (Psa 55:22).  We have to turn them over to the Lord.

rid you out of bondage.
Bondage is created by those things that control us, whether it is people, substances, sins, or attitudes. These are the things that keep us from building our relationship with God. We all have experienced some behavior that has kept us in bondage, like pride, anger, or contention.  How does the Lord free us from our bondage? "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7).  It is through the Atonement that we are freed from bondage.  Our part requires us to use the Atonement, repent, and be forgiven.

redeem you with a stretched out arm.
Redeem means "bought back", for the Israelites it meant being "bought back" out of slavery by the mighty power of God.  For us the call to be "bought back" comes in the form of three words, "Come follow me."  It is through Christ that we are redeemed and 'saved' so that we can return to our Father in Heaven. Ephesians 1:10 states: "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:"  We have to choose to follow Christ to benefit from this promise.

take you to me for a people.
What does it mean to be a part of God's people?  It means that we can have a special relationship with God, a closeness, a state of blessedness, and a constant companion.  God has labeled His people as a "peculiar treasure' (Ex 19:5) or a "peculiar people" (Deut 14:2; 26:18; Psalm 135:4; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9).  This means that they are a favored people in the sight of God.  How do we become God's people?  We start by having faith! (Mark 11:22)

be a God unto you.
This is one of my favorite promises because of the blessings that it brings:
"And  I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God." (Exodus 29:45).  He will live among us! 

"For Moses had said,  Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, ...that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day." (Ex 32:29)  Think of all the blessings that the Lord bestows on you, the needs He meets, the prayers He answers, the burdens He lifts, the gifts He extends, the grace He passes out.  God is so good to us every day of our lives!

bring you unto a land.
God promises to take the Israelites our of Egypt and to the promised land.  Where does God promise to take us?  For some it will be to the land of Zion, a place that is described as, "I, the Lord, hold it in mine own hands" (D&C 63:25).  Ultimately, He will take us to dwell with Him once again in Heaven (John14:1-3).  I can think of no place that I would rather be! 

give it to you for an heritage.
According to the scriptures an heritage includes: children (Ps 127:3), land (Ps 135:12), protection (Isa 54:17; D&C 105:15), a testimony (D&C 58:13), and the chance to be an example to others (1 Peter 5:3). His promises always carry with them more blessings than we are aware of.

Seven great promises from the Lord in three verses!  Unfortunately, when Moses shares these blessings with the Israelites they "hearkened not...for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage." (Ex 6:9).  I do not judge them too harshly, we know the ending of their story, they did not have that benefit.  However, we do not know all the details of where our own journey will take us and we have to face the challenges with faith.  How do we keep from breaking down under the load we are carrying?  How do we prevent ourselves from falling into despair like the Israelites? 

I don't have all the answers, but I do know that remembering the promises of the Lord has helped me to keep a positive perspective.  The Lord was willing to make these "I will" promises to each of us, in return  I would like to make an "I will" promise back to Him:  I will not forget!  What would your "I will" statement be?