slave to control

we as humans are hardwired to want to control the environment around us. in Genesis, God gave man control over all the animals and plants on earth (Gen 1.28). because God gave us control, over centuries, man invented equipment of comfort like chairs, electricity and light, cars, computer, internet, etc.

BUT there's a downside to all the control. the results are not perfect. there's pollution in the air. the ozone layer is thinning. the environment is out of control and getting worse (not that it was in our control in the first place). and because we are humans, the desire to control to spills over from relationships to careers, from finances to everyone we encounter. but we all know that we can't control life and where it takes us.

the surge (young adults) group is doing a six week study on exodus and the introductory lecture was fascinating. in life, people exercise control by:

1. storing up things (i.e. egyptians with tombs filled with treasures hoping that they will follow them into the next life and the more the better the next life is going to be)
   
2. consolling ourselves with pleasure (by distracting ourselves from the fact that we have no control whatsoever of our lives)
3. becoming pharoh/man-god (where self is the centre of the universe)

moses in Exodus tries to get God to define himself when he encountered the burning bush but God can't be defined by us. "i am what i am" he said (exodus 3.14, NKJV). the funny thing is, moses tried to do the right thing by his people when he killed the egyptian to save his own countryman from a certain death (exodus 2.11-12). but he was doing it in his own strength. God appeared to him in the desert where it's dangerous and where trying to make a living in a place without a steady supply of fresh water (such as the nile) can literarily kill you.

during the time israel was slave to egypt, the thing holding them back was the relative comfort of living close to fresh water was. eventhough they had squatters for houses and working conditions were absolutely terrible, the had a steady supply of food. in the desert, it's tough and hard to live.

the challenge? am i willing to travel from the safety of where i am to where God is in the desert where it is tough to live?

i don't know. i know that if i tried with my own strength, i will most definitely fail.