Depending on God is not something that we are used to or a skill that we are born with. It goes against our nature to do this because our culture says that we should depend on no one. We might think of ourselves as depending on a parent or family member for a time, but our desire is often to move out as soon as we're old enough to! The culture of this world is in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe – we literally have to fight in order to believe in God.
In a way, we are very much like the Israelites who had been in slavery for more than 400 years. We've been enslaved to the culture of this world, to the illusion that we can have a great life if only we learn to depend on no one. The fact is that even the most independent person is really still dependent on someone – himself. And many of us who are Christ followers still struggle with getting the culture of the world out of us. It's a bit like being institutionalized.
In the movie, Shawshank Redemption, there is an especially poignant portrait of institutionalization running its course. When Brooks, an old convict over 80 years old is released after 50 years of being incarcerated, he's given a job bagging groceries in the grocery store, finds it hard to sleep at night, and has no one on the outside that knows him or cares to know him. Old, tired and alone, he writes a letter back to his friends in prison saying, "I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me". He carves a phrase on a beam in his apartment, "Brooks was here" and hangs himself.
We are free men because Christ set us free. But for some of us, we've been in slavery for so long, we don't know how to live as free men.
This is where God comes in and says to us that we need to trust in Him. We need to surrender to Him in order to win the battle against the world. That's what Moses did. He refused to rely on his own strength or the strength of the Israelites, to fight this battle. Instead as he lifted up his hands, he was surrendering that situation to God. And God showed them that He would be their victory for every battle.
To His Glory,
Walter Alexander
Pastor of Adult Ministries