Slave Mentality

As I was reading about the Passover in Exodus last week some things kind of spoke to me. I want to share a little with you today. There was a lot that He was showing me that relates to our lives today, but for now I am going to talk about a slave mentality.

You’re probably familiar with this story, if not you can find it in Exodus chapters 3-14. Brief description…the children of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for 400-430 yrs and they had been crying out to God for deliverance and help. So the Lord called Moses to go back to Egypt and bring them out into freedom. The Lord performed many miraculous signs leading up to the exodus of the Israelites. They witnessed the faithfulness and goodness of God over and over and over. They witnessed His protection and provision. They left Egypt being fully provided for in abundance by the Egyptians…just as God had said.

God continued to show Himself throughout their journey. He would supernaturally lead them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He even let Moses know what He was going to do next so that he could relay this information to the Israelites and they could be “prepared”. God understood that he was dealing with a people with a slave mentality and it was important how He brought them out and what He allowed them to encounter. When He brought them out of Egypt, He did not take them the shortest route because He knew that if the people faced war they would possibly change their minds and return to Egypt. (Don’t judge!) When they reached the Red Sea, God gave specific instructions on where and how to camp. He also revealed that Pharaoh and his army would be coming after them…BUT it was so He could get glory and all of Egypt would know that He is the Lord.

So the children of Israel obeyed and set up camp as instructed, but when Pharaoh and his army drew near they were greatly afraid and they began to cry out to the Lord. They began to cry out and complain to Moses. They were asking why he brought them out into the wilderness to die? Why didn’t he just leave them in Egypt? It would have been better to be a slave in Egypt than to die in the wilderness. Moses looked at them and spoke in bold confidence these encouraging words…”Fear not, stand strong, and see the salvation of the Lord. For the Egyptians you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” And we know that He did fight for them. He parted the Red Sea and brought them through on dry land and not one was lost, but every Egyptian who tried to pass through was drowned.

Although we are free in Christ, we still operate with a slave mentality at times. When we face hardships, although we know the faithfulness of God, we don’t always act like it. We complain, we whine, we want to give up, we talk about how much easier it is to just live the “basic” Christian life without all of the battles…not wanting more of God, etc. Right? We don’t instantly step up in faith and say, “Oh God, although the Egyptian armies are behind me and the Red Sea is in front of me…I know you have it all under control so I am not going to fear, but stand strong and watch You bring the victory.”

So what do we need to do?

FEAR NOT! Do not allow the fiery darts of the enemy to cause us to question God’s faithfulness and goodness and bring doubt and fear into our hearts and minds. No!!! Remember all that He has done both personally in our own lives and in His written Word. Recount the times that He has already come through for us, encouraging ourselves in the faith.

STAND STRONG! We have to stand firm in our faith! We have to know that we know who He is. Even when it looks like we are surrounded on every side and there is no where to go…we know He is faithful. He has not failed us yet and He will not this time. We will stand strong and SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD.

TRUST THAT THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR US and…

BE SILENT! I thought about this one a lot. Why do you think Moses told them all they had to do was be silent? Maybe it had something to do with the words they were speaking. When they spoke, it was words from a slave mentality and not from a place of freedom. Their words did not express confidence in the faithfulness of their God. Sometimes it is better to just be silent!!! We know our words have the power of life and death and if our words are not aligning with the words and will of God…we just need to be silent.

So how do we do this?

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. If we want to build our faith and break free from a slave mentality we must renew our minds. We must study the word of God daily…get it in our hearts. The only way we can fully stop operating out of a slave mentality is if we no longer think like a slave. We can only stop thinking like a slave when we know who we truly are in Christ…a son or daughter of God! When we know who we are we can fear not, stand strong, and see the salvation of the Lord all while aligning our words with His truth!