Can You Look Back And Say, “Yes, it is clear to me that God was there”?“
Then we turned around . . . . . . and we wandered around in the region of Mount Seir for a long time. 2 “Then at last the LORD said to me, 3 ‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north (it’s time to go to the promised land and this time, to actually enter. . . . . . . .. . 7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’
Deuteronomy 2:1-7
Reflection
In this passage God is essentially telling Moses,
“Okay, 40 years ago you and your people were given the land, but out of fear you wouldn’t go in. Yes, you wept at missing your chance but your tears were tears of loss, not repentance. Yes, you did try to go in later, but on your own without Me. And the result was disaster followed by 38 years of going in circles, getting nowhere. Now it’s time again. This time take a moment to reflect. Reflect on how I’ve cared for you every step of the way. Reflect on how you’ve lacked nothing even though the going has been rough at times. No, I haven’t met your every want but I have met your every need. You can trust me. Will you? In spite of the dangers ahead?”
Note verse 7. I like it a lot. It’s like a marker, an altar, a stick in the ground, a momento, a sentence in Moses’ journal, reminding Himself and his people that God has provided even when it didn’t look like provision. God was there and sustained them. Because He did it before He will do it again.
Do you have an artifact which, when you look at it, you are reminded of God’s provision, even when you didn’t recognize it as such at the moment?
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
Sometimes there are areas where I think "God I circle with you and fail so many times." So these thoughts were encouraging. Now these can be areas in my life where I can say, "Yes,God, You have met my every need,and been there in spite of my own shortcomings." I can trust You to bring me into the Promise Land in those areas.
ReplyDeleteJournaling, I find, helps me identify markers where God has revealed Himself in different ways throughout my life. Sometimes it is just a thought, sometimes it is how He answered prayer, or opened His Word to me, or worked through me to touch someone else. Going back to the journal to re-read my entries, I am at times amazed at what was written. Surely, even in the moment I wrote, God was there to give the words to paper. Having those pages there to reflect, ponder and revisit helps me through the times of wilderness, time when I can't seem to see Him, feel Him or hear Him. These are not every day entries like some but I have years of entries to show where I've walked with God.
ReplyDeletePerhaps others would like to journal as we go through this "journey". Perhaps starting out with a prayer to ask God to show you this part of your journey and journal it. You can start your own marker. Can't imagine what my husband or children or grandchildren or dear friends will discover when they come upon these journals after I've gone home. Another prayer would be that these journals will continue the impact as they did at the very moment they happened.
As I look back over my many years, I see how God has provided for His plan in my life and not my own. Though at each point I may have questioned why my “Plan A” wasn’t an option, I now look back and see that He was directing me toward His “Plan A” instead. Sometimes it was through what appeared to be harshness (job loss, illness, etc), but the key was that He was always there, providing for me and my family. Even bringing us to the Philadelphia area (which was certainly NOT a part of my plans). God has provided, God is providing, God will provide!
ReplyDeleteIt's may be too long a story for here but, suffice it to say, my lesson was in financial security. Our church was doing a building program and even though we were very tight with our personal income, I clearly knew we were to give $273. a month to this building program above and beyond our tithe. When I did our budget, that left us $20.00 for movies, etc. Meanwhile, I had been exchanging letters with the water department that we owed them a ton of money for a back water bill caused by a broken water line and I kept trying to explain we had only been there nine months and I was willing to pay them for those nine months only. Finally, the day after we turned in our pledge card, ($273. leaving us $20.), we got the legal letter from the water department telling us our monthly payment would be $19.95! I burst out laughing as I instantly recognized the Lord's hand telling me that He was in control of our money, not me, and that He would provide for us. I never see a nickel that I don't feel that loving humor...and He did and does provide for us, these 23 years later.
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