Monday, January 16, 2012

Acknowledging What God Has Done

Just this past Sunday, I visited one of The King's People house churches and had a wonderful time in the Lord with everyone there. There was edifying fellowship among the people, God was present in the worship and the discussion, and life was transmitted from one believer to another.  And during a period of discussion in the gathering, there were many encouraging insights expressed, and one that I specifically wanted to write down and share.

This particular insight focused on the Israelites and their liberation from slavery and the many trials they faced during their 40 years in the desert.  And it highlighted first of all, their grumbling and complaining before the Lord: how he had brought them out of Egypt simply to be slain by the Egyptains in the desert, how he had parted the Red Sea simply so that they could die of thirst and hunger in the wilderness, seemingly oblivious to the many times that God had been faithful in keeping His promises to them, how He had never failed to keep His promises.  In spite of all that the Lord had done, they continued to grumble and complain against Him, not understanding that He was YHWH, their God and Provider.  They simply did not believe that the Lord was good.  That is what it boils down to: they did not trust in the character of God.

And looking from our perspective as we read through Exodus, we wonder at the conclusions to which the Israelites came, like the one in Exodus 14:11, when the Israelites said to Moses concerning their being pursued by the Egyptians, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?  Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?"  We read this and its hard not to laugh.  We think, "How can they doubt a God who had sent ten devastating plagues (from which they were spared) to demonstrate that He was the one true God and to release them from the bondage of slavery?  Then later on in Exodus 16:3, they complain about not having anything to eat saying, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full!  For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger!"  Why did they say these things; how could they say them after they had observed the mighty works the Lord had performed on their behalf?  It's not that they thought the Lord couldn't do it, it was that they thought He wouldn't do it.  Why?  Because they did not hold to and trust in His goodness; they did not believe that God was good.

And how many times do we in our own lives have those same thought processes?  How many times in our minds do we allow the magnitude of the situation to overshadow the magnitude of God and the reality of His goodness?  Let's finally start believing that God is a good Father.  Let's reflect on what God has done in our lives - pulling us through impossible situations and providing for us when we needed it most - and have confidence for today and every day for the rest of our lives that He has not brought you here - meaning any problem or trial that you are currently going through -  to abandon us.  He is GOOD and His GOOD plans for our lives - which do not exclude trials - will always prevail.


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