Joshua Kennedy's Weekly Devotion

      Waiting seasons are often preparation seasons. At Mount Sinai, God paused Israel’s journey so He could form them into His covenant people. Before bringing them into the Promised Land, He brought them to Himself. He reminded them of what He had done, declared who they were, and prepared them for what they were called to do. 1. God Brings Us to Himself Before He Brings Us Forward Exodus 19:1–4 (NLT) “Exactly two months after the Israelites left Egypt, they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai. After breaking camp at Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and set up camp there at the base of Mount Sinai. Then Moses climbed the mountain to appear before God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and said, ‘Give these instructions to the family of Jacob; announce it to the descendants of Israel: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.”’” Israel had left Egypt, but before God brought them ...

  The wilderness is not proof that God has abandoned us. It is often where He exposes what remains unhealed, teaches us to trust His provision, and prepares us for what comes next. The In-Between Place Israel had left Egypt, but they had not yet entered the Promised Land. They were living between deliverance and destination: Free, but not fully formed Carrying a promise, but not yet seeing its fulfillment Following God, but still learning to trust Him The wilderness can feel unproductive, but it is often God’s runway. Before an aircraft takes off, it must be positioned, inspected, and prepared. In the same way, God uses in-between seasons to prepare His people for where He is taking them. The wilderness is not where progress stops. It is often where preparation begins. 1. The Wilderness Reveals What Freedom Has Not Yet Healed “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt… There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted.”
— Exodus 16:3 NLT   Only a mon...

God can bring people out of bondage in a moment, but learning to live free often requires a process. Israel had left Egypt, but Egypt had not fully left Israel. They were physically delivered, but still fragile in their thinking, emotions, and trust. They were no longer slaves, but they still carried the instincts of slavery. This is the tension of Exodus 14: Israel is free, but still learning how to live free. God not only brings His people out; He teaches them how to walk forward. The wilderness becomes the place where God forms His people for the promise. Breaking gravity means leaving behind the old pull of fear, trauma, unbelief, survival thinking, and bondage. God is calling His people to rise, but He must also teach us how to think, trust, and walk as free people. Movement 1: Fear Looks Back Exodus 14:10–12 “As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them.” — Exodus 14:10 NLT Fear has a way of pulling us back tow...

Introduction God brings His people out of bondage so they can rise into worship, obedience, and covenant purpose. God did not deliver Israel simply so they could leave Egypt. He delivered them so they could belong fully to Him. Their freedom was not about independence; it was about worship, obedience, and covenant purpose. For generations, Israel lived under Pharaoh’s oppression. They knew what it was to be controlled, delayed, burdened, and treated as less than God had called them to be. But Exodus 12 shows us that Pharaoh never had the final word. Bondage did not have the final word. Delay did not have the final word. The Lord brought His people out. Through the lens of this series, the word of the Lord was not only “Let My people go.” It was, “Let My people fly.” 1. God Breaks What Has Been Holding His People Exodus 12:29–30 NLT “At midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn s...

Main Thought Before people ever take flight in obedience, they must decide whether they will trust God beyond their excuses. Fear keeps us grounded, but faith gives us runway. Introduction God does not call people because they already feel ready. He calls them because He is ready to be with them. Before Moses became the deliverer of Israel, he had to walk through his own process of deliverance. The man God sent to bring Israel out of bondage first had to be brought out of fear, insecurity, reluctance, and unbelief. This is often how God works. Before He uses us publicly, He deals with us privately. Before He sends us to help others walk in freedom, He exposes the places where we still need freedom ourselves. Moses was not eager, confident, or self-assured when God called him. He was hesitant. He was afraid. He was deeply aware of his own limitations. His story reminds us that the issue is not whether we feel capable of doing what God has placed before us. The issue is whether we will t...

  Have you ever felt stuck in a season that seems ordinary, repetitive, or forgotten? Perhaps you have wondered if your best days are behind you, if past mistakes have disqualified you, or if God has overlooked you. Moses knew those feelings well. Once raised in Pharaoh's palace, Moses now spent his days tending sheep in the wilderness of Midian. The palace was behind him. Egypt was behind him. His failure was behind him. After forty years in obscurity, it would have been easy for Moses to assume that his opportunity to make a difference had passed. Yet God had not forgotten him. What appeared to be a season of hiding was actually a season of preparation. God's delay was not God's denial. God Can Find You in the Field "One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro..." (Exodus 3:1) Moses was not praying for a ministry position, seeking recognition, or pursuing a calling. He was faithfully performing ordinary responsibilities. Yet it was in the mi...

“But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” — Isaiah 40:31 Before God calls His people to soar, He teaches them how to wait. Many believers want the experience of spiritual flight without the discipline of dependence. We want God’s strength, God’s blessing, and God’s breakthrough, but often resist giving ourselves fully to Him. Yet man was created for fellowship with God, and real relationship requires trust. Trust takes time. It is developed in the waiting. Isaiah 40 speaks to a weary people. They felt forgotten, exhausted, and unable to continue. Their cry was, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God.” They believed God had stopped seeing them, stopped hearing them, and stopped caring about their condition. But God’s answer was not, “Try harder.” His answer was, “Look higher.” Isaiah reminds them, “The LORD is the everlasting God, the...