Remember-don’t ever forget!-how you made the Lord your God furious in the wilderness. From the very first day you stepped out of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebels against the Lord.
Deuteronomy 9:6-12, 18
Deuteronomy 9:6-12,18. “Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people. Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord. At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you. When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves. Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Deuteronomy%209:6-18&version=NIV
The devotional for today talks about similarities between Jesus in the wilderness and the Israelites in the wilderness. There’s two points that are being experienced by both and they are discomfort and transformation. Yesterday’s devotion gave us insights to what Jesus went through during His forty days in the wilderness which included waiting, fasting, wrestling, trials and temptations. Jesus suffered during this time and accepted it and learned from the experience so that He could begin His ministry. He took the time to focus on the presence and power of God to sustain Him. The Israelites are a different story, they grumbled at their circumstances instead of being thankful for their freedom. Their faith lacked longevity, as soon as things became challenging their faith would waiver…too often it is easy to fall into this pattern for all of us. Remember, none of us are perfect and God does not want perfection, He wants our surrender, our devotion, He wants a relationship with us, He loves us and wants to love us even more. The Israelites were remembering how things used to be in Egypt, even though they were slaves they could eat meat and cook, they grew tired of manna from Heaven every day. They even lacked faith that God would provide daily for them that they gathering more food (manna) than they could eat after being told not to. The truth is we have the same rebellious spirit in our lives, most especially when it involves transition and changes. We are unwilling to let go of anger, frustration, betrayal, sin and hatred to name a few. This time of Lent gives us the time and space to face challenges and open ourselves up to change. There’s a question posed by the author and it is this…
Question: “How have you tried to hold on to the past in the mist of a transition in your life?
Answer: With a lot of vagueness I will say that I have struggled with closing doors on relationships that have transitioned, I am afraid that if the door closes it may never open again. The other important aspect about this is that typically I only focus on my feelings or my hurts while ignoring the other person’s feelings, not in a deliberate or brutal fashion, I’m just consumed with my fear and my doubts. This all happens for one reason only, I failed to include God…in the relationship and more fully into my life. I am happy to share that I am doing much better in this area of my life. Time and circumstances change all of us, no fault, no pointing and no blaming. People grow sometimes in different direction, it’s never wrong to go into the direction you feel God is leading. I had friends in college that I thought we would be close for the rest of our lives, I don’t love them any less today than I did when we were classmates and best friends but life happens and we lose touch…but we have memories that can still cause a smile and sometimes a (lol) and bring us JOY! I’m thankful for renewed friendships from my college days, FB and Twitter have helped in making that possible but the most important thing I’ve learned is that it takes time and if it’s important then make the time to let others know how you feel.
Let the Sun(Son)shine in!
Breath Prayer: Loving God, teach me how to let go.
~Blessings and Peace~
HOPE SEEKER 