This post was to be written so many posts ago....but I've filled with fluff, instead of wrapping my head around it! I just can't seem to concentrate long enough to write anything meaningful! (even now, my neighbor is mowing his lawn..the boys are arguing...it looks like it's going to rain and I have a dinner menu floating around my head that I really don't feel like making tonight!)
So, I'll say a little prayer for God to draw me in, settle my heart and focus my mind!!!
Do you ever have one of those days where the bottom just seems to drop out? Where, really, if only one more thing could go wrong you'd be admitted to the loony bin?
That was my day when I read Numbers 9. Honestly, I am not manic....my life is such a roller coaster...up on the mountain one day, down in the valley the next! Alright, Numbers 9: 22-23 (the message)
It made no difference whether the Cloud hovered over The Dwelling for two days or a month or a year, as long as the Cloud was there, they were there. And when the Cloud went up, they got up and marched. They camped at God's command and they marched at God's command. They lived obediently by God's orders delivered by Moses.
My NIV Study Bible made note that the Israelites weren't always looking ahead to the next big move, they kept their eyes focused...God had a purpose for their encampment just as much as He had a purpose for moving them. Hmmmm..... God likes to give me a V8 smack upside the head every so often. This was one of them.
As I read further through Numbers, things were constantly deteriorating, then swinging up...ebb and flow... a faithful group of doubters. This world has a way of pulling our eyes off the true GPS and planting them squarely on ourselves...our needs, our hurts, our waaaaaants. God was faithful to always provide for the Israelites. But from the time they left Egypt until the minute they arrived (again) at the foot of the Promised Land, they only could think of their hardships (do you have any idea how Many times they said "why did you bring us out into the desert to die? If only we had stayed in Egypt"?!?).
How could being enslaved in Egypt even compare to being led by The Lord?
I got my answer last weekend at church. The sermon was on remembering what to remember....or at least that was the part that hit me the most. Basically we remember the things that we should forget and forget the things that we should remember! (thank you Pastor Keith for that insight!!)
Israel was so wrapped up in remembering the food and "comforts" of Egypt that they forgot What God brought them out of...they couldn't see the daily blessings of manna and water from rocks...and most of all...they forgot to see that God was right there with them--Leading and Providing for them the entire time!!!
Moses in Deuteronomy is continually saying--Be Careful---Remember---Do Not Forget. God was preparing their hearts by having them constantly rely on Him for their every need. He knew that once they got into this wonderful land, where things would be easy, that they would be drawn by life and turn their hearts from him. Hmmmmmm....
So, what am I trying to remember? God always is faithful, always provides, His Timing Is Everything! He has plans for me, for you too....plans to give us a hope and future, not to harm us....even when we think that we are being harmed, it is for our benefit....growth doesn't happen during the easy times, but when our faith is stretched to the point of us breaking, humbling us low...taking our eyes off ourselves and back on God!
Remembering......
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