It's not Better in Egypt - Daughters of the Creator

For it was better for us in Egypt.

Numbers 11:18

By God’s favor, Joseph came up with a plan to help the Egyptians survive a severe famine. After Joseph and his generation passed, the Egyptians forgot about his contribution to their survival. Instead, they ruthlessly enslaved the Israelites and set out to kill their firstborn sons. As a result of their sufferings, God brought them out of Egypt. And just as the Egyptians forgot Joseph, the Israelites quickly forgot God when life became uncomfortable.

Egypt looked good to the Israelites when they were faced with the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s army behind them. Egypt looked good when they were hungry for meat and not manna. Egypt looked good when they received the bad report about the Promised Land. Yet Egypt wasn’t good for them at all.

Before we criticize the Israelites, we must also look at our lives. Sometimes when life gets hard, we imagine how it was better before we came to know Christ. Or perhaps we imagine how much better we were in a past relationship. Or we imagine how much more prestige, money, or power we had before we started living righteously. Our hearts can deceive us into only remembering the good things, even though they weren’t so good in reality.

As we mature in our walk with the Lord, we learn to expect that everything isn’t always going to be easy. We build our faith and trust in God to help us ride out the hard times. We resist the urge to murmur and complain because we know that God is working everything out for our good. The Holy Spirit encourages us towards hope rather than despair when it gets difficult.

Even when it gets tough, we would do well to remember that “Egypt’s not better.”