Even when God is delivering His people from the land of Egypt, as we see in the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, they went up in orderly ranks out of Egypt. That might sound simple until you consider that they had very little advance notice and very little with which to prepare since they were slaves and being very harshly treated. The Lord enabled them to plunder the Egyptians before they left, but that would not help them in getting out of Egypt. Then, consider that there were about two million people between the men, women and children to say nothing of all the animals they took with them. Not even taking into account the livestock and traveling in a column ten wide, their ranks would have stretched about one hundred fifty miles! Since they had been in slavery for all of their lives, they would not have been trained in war or marching or any such thing, so God supernaturally brought order to their exit from Egypt. So, how does that help you today?
When you receive salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, your spirit is made alive but it is still in a body (your flesh) that is “corruptible” and your soul (that is your mind, thoughts, will and emotions) is up for grabs. If you are to be renewed, then you must renew your mind. Just like the children of Israel, the Lord leads you out of Egypt in an orderly fashion. Every day, the Lord desires to work in your life to transform you into the image that was intended for you from the beginning — the image of His dear Son!
But, alas, sometimes the journey takes longer than you expect and all of a sudden, it seems like you must not, you cannot be redeemed due to your lack of perfection in this area or that. “Surely by now” you reason “I would be able to handle that or deal with this situation if I am really a Christian.” Right on cue, there is one waiting to agree with you, the enemy of your soul. The devil is, after all, the accuser of the brethren and he will take any opportunity to accuse you of not really being a Christian.
Remember, the Lord is doing a work in you that is orderly and purposeful. You might think there are shortcuts you could take in your quest for spiritual growth, but in the end, it can only happen God’s way: line upon line and precept upon precept. Never compare yourself with others to determine if your progress with the Lord is “on schedule”. Your walk with God is not measured by the path He has for anyone else.
The Lord gives grace to the humble. Come before Him and lay your journey out of Egypt at His feet, and ask for the next line, the next precept He has for you Don’t get ahead of the Lord but don’t fall behind with excuses. Take it one day at a time, one line at a time!