Bad Choices

“And in the future, your children will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’  Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery. [Exodus 13.14]

Why were the Israelites slaves in Egypt?

Because they were immigrant foreigners who were taken advantage of by the Egyptians after Joseph's era passed.

Why were the Israelites immigrant foreigners in Egypt?

Because they had emigrated there (from the promised land, mind you) to be where Joseph and the food was.

Why was there food in Egypt?

Because Joseph could interpret dreams and therefore knew to prepare for severe famine.

Why was Joseph in Egypt?

Because his brothers did an evil thing and sold him into slavery.

Why did Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery?

Because he had dreams and his brothers were envious and jealous.

Two things:

1. It is possible that the entire Egypt ordeal including the wilderness wanderings could have been avoided had Joseph never been sold into slavery!  Yes, possibly.  It was obvious that Joseph was already having dreams and therefore it would have been very possible that his dream interpretation could have taken place in Canaan thus warning him there about the impending famine therefore giving them time to prepare therefore elevating Israel as the savior of all the regions around instead of Egypt!
2. Even though it could be argued that Israel's presence in Egypt originated because of the sinful acts of Joseph's brothers (bad choices and decisions with evil intent were made), God still delivered Israel with mighty power!  God took a bad situation that ultimately started with sin and made it an opportunity to reveal His deliverance and forgiveness!

It seems that bad choices almost always end in some sort of slavery.  Slavery to money, slavery to health issues, slavery to single parenthood, or slavery to any number of things... all, in some ways (but arguably not always) can be attributed to wrong decisions.  Poor financial judgment makes one a slave to money - the difference is found in either controlling money or being controlled by it.  Poor judgment in personal habits (smoking, excessive drinking, drunk driving, illicit relationships) makes one a slave to health issues - lung cancer could possibly enslave the smoker, liver failure could possibly enslave the heavy drinker, communicable diseases could possibly enslave the promiscuous, and worse yet, bastard children are enslaved to having only a single parent through no deed of their own doing!

Joseph's brothers' bad choices ultimately landed generations of their descendants into slavery.

The silver lining to bad choices however is that God remains always ready to deliver any and all who will look to Him - regardless of what got them into slavery.  The experience of deliverance (following the Israelite's experience) can be long and treacherous, or it can be short.  If rebellious practices are embraced in the time and process of deliverance, much grief can be the result and the process itself can be increased greatly time-wise.  The whole Exodus story confirms this!

So...

I am wondering about my own situation - my own current 'slavery.'  Did bad choices get me where I am?  Probably.  But that's not the end of the story!  From the account of Israel being delivered from Egypt, I can have every confidence that God remains committed to deliver me!  However, I can also count on difficulties along the way if I do not remain committed to God!

Father, help me to see Your deliverance!  Help me to obey Your directions!  Help me to encourage others who are experiencing the same thing!