Complacency & Hebrew Slaves

Complacency: the thief that robs us of our identity and causes us to stay in bondage.

In Exodus 1, Jacob & Joseph had died and there was a new Pharaoh in town (who disregarded God's chosen people). God's people were slaves in Egypt and were treated horribly. They were treated so bad that the Egyptians wanted the Hebrew women to kill the baby boys but let the girls live.

Now fast forward a few chapters into Exodus, after Moses gets the children of Israel over the Red Sea, the children of Israel do one thing that's interesting: complain and want to go back to Egypt and be Hebrew Slaves. They said that they got food to eat, notice they neglected to say they got beaten and cruel treatment. God was trying to test their faith and rely on Him but they failed horribly.

Now, there's a better life for us, are we longing for someone to tell us what to do and be cruel to us? Are you willing to step out on faith or do you want an easy way out? The easy way out is simply complacency and your life withers away.

In my prior blogpost, I briefly mentioned about people on jobs and they are so complacent because it's easy even though their working hard like a Hebrew Slave. But when things go wrong, such as insurance costs go up, retirement is getting cut, salaries are getting cut, everybody wants to complain, but won't step out and cross over to their own Promised Land. They'll still endure the Hebrew Slave treatment and remain complacent.

Think about this: has complacency gotten you to the point where you have amnesia? If so, what do you intend to do about it? Also, why is it that people who are truly complacent remember the insignificant things but ignore the hardships endured to acquire the insignificant things? Think about it, the children of Israel had their backbones beaten just for food. What they should have been thinking about was stepping out on faith to have freedom as well as the horrible treatment endured by the Egyptians. Now, let's bring it to us: are we being told to love your job and being fed from our employer that we should be thankful that we are working for them (just to ensure an ESP - I call that an Economic Stimulus Paycheck, or to ensure insurance, retirements - which for many people those are now in jeopardy)? Are you afraid to take a leap of faith and pursue the freedom and talent that God is calling you to because your employer is telling you that nobody is going to take care of you like we do? Remember, misery loves company. Now, those things (ESP, benefits and paychecks) are really insignificant; however, we ignore having our jobs threatened, having no raise and/or bonus, having our salaries reduced, and having our retirement funding be reduced in order to have the insignificant things. If we're smart enough, we should remember the horrible treatment more than the insignificant things given to us (which aren't even guarantees). That should in itself cause you to want to break free from complacency.

Another thought, remember when I mentioned above that misery loves company? Think about people on your job, and how bitter some of them are because of their complacency and want you to be bitter as well. I’m sure there are people who you work with will complain about you (especially if you refuse to give in to complacency) and then they run to their supervisor and say, “he or she is not conforming to your rules of complacency.” The moral is simply, the subordinate is getting beaten (by threat of loss of job security through termination or demotion, etc.). Again, that should in itself cause you to want to break free from complacency.

When you decide to step out from complacency and you're breaking the chains of Hebrew slaves, I promise you it won't be an easy road. You will have death staring at you (cause the enemy wants you killed). In fact (a little side note), on April 10th, on my way home from church, the light turns green and I'm preparing to make a left turn, a car jumps the divided median and if I hadn't slammed on my brakes, the car would've hit me directly on the driver's side. But the Lord said, not this day, I've got work for you to do here.

There's one more thing I need to bring up. There could be another group that's complacent because they stepped out and faced a setback in the way (whether it be minor or major). To this group, did you forget that setbacks are inevitable? Why did you throw in the towel and willingly go back to the life of complacency and Hebrew Slave treatment? You'll hear some people say when they're in their promised land, "Yes, when I was working for someone, I had a steady paycheck, had a little free time, not too much work to do at times. Why is it so difficult here in the Promised Land? I have to work harder now than I did when I was complacent. Nothing is given to me like before!" How many of you know what I'm talking about? One of my good friends would say, "You're already in your promised land! Yes, you're not going to be eating the same food as you did when you were complacent. Now is not the time to complain and quit (saying, I like having things handed to me)! You have more peace in your spirit and you have freedom!" Another good friend would say this, "you are in your harvest, but most people don't reap the harvest because everybody doesn't put in the necessary work to reap it!" As I think about it, some people quit because they are trying to get rich quick (or they want that instant gratification). No! You are going to have to work, give up some sleep. But it's all worth it. Think about it, most millionaires/billionaires got rich because they made sacrifices, went through discomforts, and a lot of failures. And we have the nerve to sit up and complain they need to give us their money, when we could have the same thing. My brother Darrell would say, "God can bless you with harvesting ideas (to make you a millionaire)." Now what's so difficult about that?

Are the chains of complacency worth breaking? Absolutely. You will feel so free that people will want to experience it also. Let's go to the Promised Land together and let those who want to remain complacent and be treated as Hebrew Slaves stay in the wilderness.