While at church on Sunday singing some wonderful praise songs, God decided to speak so loudly that I had to sit and write it down. What amazing things God can tell us if we just bother to sit and listen.
It all started around this time last week. A thought started rolling around in my head provoked by a song I heard on the radio about God's faithfulness. I thought about it a little, and then let it pass. Saturday, the same thing happened. Again, I thought about it a little and let it pass. Well apparently, on Sunday, God did not want me to let it pass anymore. This time He made it such an ever present thought that the only way to continue on in the day was to sit and write it down. I've mulled over it many times this week and thought you might like to know what this noggin has been pondering. I hope it helps you in your walk with Christ as it has mine. Here is what God was telling me.
God promised to send a king to save His people, Israel. Jesus came. He promised He would die and be resurrected from the dead in three days. The tomb is empty - He did. He promised to care for His children (Jeremiah 29:11). He has taken care of us even when the world said there was no hope. He promised to provide (Matthew 6:25-34) for our basic needs. He has through many creative means. He promised to be our living water (John 4:10). He has rejuvenated us though we were very parched in spirit.
How many promises must He make and fulfill before we start to believe Him? When will we release our lives and ourselves completely into His hands? Is it when He does things like we think they should be done. No, instead He brings us to a point of complete free fall from our own comforts - wealth, possessions, health, knowledge, understanding... All that is left is to trust His promises because He has taken everything else away. God tends to answer our prayers for faith by giving us an opportunity to practice faith instead of just giving us a faith that provides peace.
Just as we teach our children how to do things by practicing it over and over, God teaches us. Why do we expect our Heavenly Father to teach us in a different way than we ourselves must teach our children? Just as we tell our children to, "Trust me!" We too must just trust Him! Job 2:10, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"
All of this is a firm foundation for which God has been moving in my heart this week through my bible study class. While journeying through the bible study One in a million by Priscilla Shrier, I was hit smack between the eyes by something she said. As she was talking about Israel's 40 year journey in the wilderness after escaping Egypt, she mentioned this, "The wilderness is designed to reveal whether we really want God or if we just want to 'get out of town' and to Canaan as soon as possible. He is interested in knowing if we've submitted to the wilderness only to receive the rewards that come with Canaan or if we truly desire Him more than anything...even the rewards."
As I've sat and pondered these things, I've realized that I've enjoyed my walk with the Lord getting stronger but not because I craved intimacy with the Almighty. Instead, it was because I subconsciously knew that with that intimacy there would be an end to the wilderness of unemployment and financial uncertainty. What a devastating blow to my ego to realize that I had missed the mark once again when I was sure I was hitting it head on!
