No More Sand in my Ears

(I wasn't happy with my previous post. Here it is again with an alternative ending.)

 

It was my voice I heard...

-shouting above the noise of what, to me, was normal.

- questioning that my prayers were being answered.

"Who made you a prince and a judge over us?!" (Exodus 2:14)

So, I chased him into the desert.

The one who understood. I made him leave.

It was me who didn't believe...

- a generation later.

- who is this coming from nowhere, promising the impossible?

"You are making things worse, not better!" (based on Exodus 5:20-23)

Making bricks was what I did, all I knew.

Taking away the straw made it harder, not easier.

It was me who begged for captivity.

- when I felt surrounded by enemies.

- when someone said to walk through the ocean.

"Did you bring us out here to die?" (Exodus 14: 11)

I felt scared, betrayed.

This wasn't the way deliverance was supposed to look.

It was me who thought I was dying.

- when I was thirstier than I had ever been.

- when those depending on me asked for something I could not supply.

"You are killing us, and our animals, and our little ones!" (based on Exodus 17: 3)

The desert is very dry.

Water is vital for survival!

It was me who ran in fear.

- at the mountain.

- running from the very thing I had been running to all these months.

"You talk with God. I can't!" (based on Exodus 20: 19)

I felt vulnerable and weak in God's presence.

I backed away and hid.

It was me who asked for an idol.

- demanding the minister of God make an idol for me.

- believing I was abandoned.

"Get up and do something, spiritual leader. I've given up on waiting." (based on Exodus 22: 1)

Forty days is a long time to sit in the desert and wait.

This is definitely NOT what I left Egypt for.

It was me who complained about eating bread from heaven.

- boring menu.

- hungry for more.

"There is nothing to eat but manna!" (based on Numbers 11: 6)

How many ways can I fix this?

Running out of recipes!

It was me who was quick to judge God's servant.

- Did you see who he married? tsk, tsk.

- I could do a better job!

"Has God only spoken to you? We hear from God too, you know." (based on Numbers 12:2)

If you had to put up with her as a sister-in-law, you would understand.

This heat makes anyone grumpy. 

It was me who took one look at the promised land and cried.

- those giants are really scary looking.

- slavery has its perks: stability, peace, consistency... 

"We're all gonna die. I wish I was dead! Let's go back!" (based on Numbers 14:1-4)

This isn't what I signed up for.

It shouldn't be this hard.

It was me who changed my mind, too late.

- isn't this what I am supposed to do?

- see, I told you it wouldn't work.

"Okay! Here we go to obey God!" (based on Numbers 14: 40)

Did you say something, Moses?

Don't listen to him! I can hear from God too, and He said to storm the hill!

It was me who blamed God for not giving me what He had promised. 

- wandering in the wilderness is NOT the land of milk and honey!

- I don't think these leaders know what they are doing.

"You think you are all that, but we are all holy people of God. I'm done!" (based on Numbers 16:3, 14)

You brought us OUT of a land flowing with milk and honey, INTO the desert!

Let's get real here people, this man has not given us anything that he promised us!

It was me who didn't recognize the Son of God.

- I follow everything Moses taught.

- I am one of God's chosen people.

"Search the scriptures! No prophet comes from Nazareth!" (John 7:52)

I know this man is from Nazareth. 

He can't be a prophet!

It was me who killed Stephen.

- How dare he say I wouldn't have listened to Moses?

- How dare he call me stiffnecked and uncircumcised? 

"Ahhhhhhh!!! I'm not listening!!!" (based on Acts 7:57)

Did he say he can see into heaven?

He deserves to die!

It was me who lost my sight so I could finally see.

- I thought I WAS doing God's work.

- Heading down the wrong road.

"Lord, what do you want me to do?" (based on Acts 9: 4-8)

So, Jesus was... IS the Messiah!

Count me in!

It is me who is watching and waiting.

- for my Lord to return

- to hear "well done"

"Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20)

They will look upon Him whom they have pierced.

He will bring healing to the nations.

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2: 9-11"

By Sarah Whitney March 2023