Suffering . . . affliction . . . hardship. This is exactly what My people were experiencing. For 400 years they had been forced into labor for which they were receiving no pay. Life was more than difficult; it was nearly impossible for them to live by faith in Me. And remember, the Holy Spirit had not yet come, because I had not yet come. And they had no Word of God by which they could be strengthened. They only had the promises I gave to their forefathers, and the stories that had been passed down from generation to generation about Me. And yet they cried out to Me in their suffering, and I heard their cries. For these four centuries, I had not spoken to them, and they had learned to live where they had long since been planted.
Though you might think that they would be happy to hear from Me, in reality, My children, though suffering and calling out to Me to deliver them, had grown quite accustomed to their home in Egypt. When Moses would bring the news that I was going to now move them to the land I promised them, they would surely FIRST think of what they perceived that they were leaving behind, as well as what such a journey to a new land would cost them.
Can you really be so comfortable in your affliction, that you would choose to stay in it? The answer, unfortunately, is yes, My precious one. You see, that is exactly where you are today. You are in this world, with all of its temptations and trials and suffering, while I am calling you to My world of living surrendered and obedient to Me. You complain about how "hard" it is here, and yet you refuse to come away to the land I have promised you, the land of walking in the Spirit.
You are far too comfortable in this place. Your flesh balks at surrender, and so you continue to live in your Egypt. I have already said to your enemy (the world, the flesh and Satan), "Let My people go!" when I died on the cross, rose again, and ascended into heaven to sit down at the right hand of My Father. You have been set free and My Spirit lives inside of you, waiting to lead you. But you are still choosing in several areas of your life to stay in your comfortable chair, with you feet kicked up, with the TV remote in one hand and your cell phone in the other. And since you do not have a third hand, you comfortably set your laptop in your lap.
You cannot stay and go at the same time. You must choose which land you want to live in, this place or My place. If you follow Me out of your place, you will have struggles, but I will be leading, guiding, and protecting you.
Will you get out of your comfortable chair . . . for Me? You will never know what the land of promise holds for you if you don't.
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