But circumstances worsened for the Israelites — bricks without straw, harsh taskmasters, plague upon plague fell from God's hand and still Pharaoh said, "No." Confronting bondage will yield much testing. If not for the course of nature, the child would not leave its mother’s womb. And left to ourselves we would cling to the world’s temporary warmth, oblivious to what we might become if we would but allow God to pull us from the darkness and into the blinding light. The agony of soul through which we must pass is death — death to everything we’ve known, death to self, death to the comfort that would kill us and the patterns of life that do not suit the children of Promise. The cord must be severed; division must come else life cannot. The children of God must depart from Egypt, for they cannot serve two masters. Only when we have despaired of a life of darkness can we be delivered with cries of joy into a life in the light. Only when we draw near to God and forsake the world do our ears hearken to the divine declaration: “I AM.” And on the heels of “I AM” we hear God’s blessed “I will…” I will bring you out. I will rescue you from bondage. I will redeem you. I will take you as My own. I will be your God. I will bring you to the Land of Promise. I will give you your inheritance.
Israel was driven from Egypt in haste, 430 years of slavery ending in a day. As with a mother’s labor, the children of God must not merely be allowed to leave their bondage to the world. They must be compelled to go! And though our exit brings much distress, we will emerge with blessings and far, far greater capacity to worship our Heavenly Father! God is ever the God of new beginnings, but to partake of His promises we must be of His people. We must be born anew in the Spirit of the firstborn Son who gave His life that many children might also live. So remember this, sweet child, when the world darkens, chaos deepens, and sorrows threaten to undo you: Suffering is God’s masterful means of maturity for His children; trials and troubles are the birth pangs of His mighty deliverance; and the exodus of the faithful is the much anticipated birth of new life!