I can imagine the relief the Israelites felt coming out of slavery with hopes of reaching a land of abundance and overflow. I can imagine their high expectations regarding experiencing life outside of pressure and harsh treatment. I can imagine their renewed faith and belief in God as they were finally freed from Egypt. But I can also imagine the disappointment they felt when a few weeks journey turned into wandering in a wilderness for 40 years.
As mentioned in the previous posting titled, “The Long Route”, God made the decision to lead the Israelites out of Egypt along the long route to the Promised Land. He did so as a strategic method of protection. Remember, God had done an evaluation of the Israelites so he knew their mindsets, what was within their hearts, and the residual effects from their bondage. He remained mindful of them although it may have appeared that he was punishing them due to that long route leading directly into the wilderness route. But even in that, God remained sovereign with the intention of fulfilling his promise of allowing them to enter into the Promised Land. Let’s Talk!
Deuteronomy 8: 2 and 3 (NLT) reads, “Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”.
According to the scriptures, God’s purposes for the Israelites’ wilderness route included to: humble them, test their hearts, evaluate their obedience, and teach them. And this is what I meant when I said God remained mindful of them. He knew they were not ready to enter the Promised Land so he decided to prepare them for it. But the Israelites viewed the wilderness route as punishment, and they continued to complain, be disobedient, lack faith, lack trust, resist their leader, desire to return to Egypt, etc. But God continued to demonstrate his provision and protection as methods of preparation despite their actions and responses. Even though God proved himself to them through the demonstrations, the Israelites remained unchanged. The cycles and patterns they grew accustomed to remained repetitive. God’s attempts to humble them, prove their hearts, render them to be obedient, and teach them were not effective which resulted in the death of an entire generation. That generation was unable to even see the Promised Land. I can only imagine the length of time and results of the preparation process if the Israelites would have responded differently by submitting to God, increasing their faith, and walking in obedience.
You may notice that God is leading you along the wilderness route. Rest assured that he has a purpose for this. You can take into account the same purposes he intended for the Israelites and apply them to your life. Are you humble enough? Is your heart pure? Are your intentions set for the Kingdom’s benefit? Is your will God’s will? Will you remain faithful to God no matter? Are you obedient without reasoning? Do you know and understand that life is not lived according to the measure of material possessions? Do you comprehend the importance of living by the words which proceed from God’s mouth? Being led along the wilderness route can be challenging to self, but it is for your true identity to come forward. You cannot enter the Promised Land as your old self with your old mindset, habits, lifestyles, desires, motives, agendas, lack of faith, lack of trust, disobedient ways, selfishness, etc. You must be transformed.
I want to encourage you to continue to allow God to led you. I desire for you to be free from disappointment. Maybe God did not show up how you felt he should have. Maybe your life is not going how you thought it would be after giving your life to Christ. Maybe people have mistreated you due to your decision to follow Christ. Maybe your bank account looks as if God does not care about your needs. Whatever your source of disappointment is, I pray that you will no longer allow disappointment to fester within your heart or replay within your mind. Be honest with yourself and God regarding your feelings. We have all been disappointed so you are not alone. Do not allow that disappointment or anything else to prolong your wilderness route. TTYL!
