I have so much I want to write about today as the scriptures have, as always, spoken to my heart. Last time I wrote I mentioned that I wanted to talk about Joseph, and I do but the scriptures the Lord led me to today are so true to my life and I need to share them. Joseph will show up before the end of the week but not yet today.
The Israelites wandering in the desert is so fascinating to me. I used to think they were really ignorant but have realized they were not any more ignorant than I am. I thought this because God was obviously guiding them yet they continually strayed from His presence and put their trust in other gods and worshipped a golden calf . But today I want to share some scriptures with you that I hope will help you examine your life the way that it has helped me examine mine.
I would like for you to look at the scriptures in Deuteronomy today. Let’s start with 1:30 where Moses is speaking to the Israelites. “The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as He did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” Is that not the most wonderful word picture? God carried His people like a father carries His son! Then it gets really sad when you look at verse 32, “In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God.”
Okay, right here I need to interject a story about our family. A few years ago one of our daughters had to have knee surgery. She had just gotten home from the hospital when storms began to brew. As the night progressed we were placed in a tornado warning. A tornado was headed very close to our home. Now generally when the sirens go off everyone in my family, except me, wants to go outside and see the tornado but this night was a little different. My husband, rather than me, was insisting we get to the basement. Now here we have our daughter with a huge bandage around her knee that has just been operated on and is very wobbly on crutches. How are we going to get her down the stairs? My husband tells her to get on his back and she refuses. Kind of scary having your dad carry you down the stairs when you are now a grown woman. It would have been fun about 10 years earlier but this night, her response was, “I am more scared of you carrying me downstairs than I am of the tornado.” My husband got firm with her and insisted she get on his back. She finally gave in when she saw that he was entirely serious, she had to trust him even though the outcome seemed a little scary. I am sure we were all a sight that night and I am glad there was no one else there taking our picture, even so, we all made it to the basement safely. As we prayed for the protection of our city the storm veered to the east and we were all protected. The trip up the stairs was a little easier but still a bit scary and we were all glad when we were tucked safely back in bed.
I tell you that story as an illustration of our heavenly Father who carried the Israelites in the desert, even though He carried them safely they still had trouble with trust.
As we go further in verse 34 -37 we find out what the result of not trusting is, “When the Lord heard what you said, He was angry and solemnly swore; ‘Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’ Because of you the Lord became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either.”
I think I will end there for today. I have so much more to write about but I think this is a good place to end. But you are not going to get off that easy. I want you to think about your own life today. Are there things that you are finding hard to let God carry you through? Are you having difficulty trusting in Him wholeheartedly? Are you more scared of the outcome than just trusting God to carry you? We have a very good example of what happened when the Israelites did not trust. I hope you will reflect on the times in which God has carried you through and remember that He will carry you through again and again as you put your trust in Him and seek Him with all your hearts.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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