Exodus 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.(ESV)
Most people know the story of the Exodus. The people of Israel had been slaves for more than 400 years. God sent Moses to say “Let my people go” and then parted the Red Sea to let them through to the wilderness.
The part of this story that most people often overlook is that God didn’t take them immediately to the promised land. There was an almost direct path that didn’t need to cross major bodies of water. What was the point of having them go into the wilderness?
The slavery caused cultural trauma for the people of Israel. It had become a part of who they were. That kind of trauma doesn’t go away overnight. It takes time to heal from that. God led them through the wilderness for forty years to give them time to adjust to no longer being slaves.
If they had gone straight to the promised land, it’s probable that they would have ended up as slaves again to one of the many tribes already living in the land.
When God heals us it can also take time because the damage is much deeper than we know.
I’ve been healed and I’ve watched this process in my own life. It takes time to fully accept that the pain is really gone. Then it takes time to adjust to a new way of living.
Walking With Christ 
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