God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

There are incredible lessons in the Bible that describe stories anyone can relate to today.  Below is a story of the Israelites Journey, this Bible story is worth reading.  You may want to go back and read my post number 35 entitled “Long-suffering” written on November 8th because that is the start of the story…

The journey started when the Israelites left Israel because there was a great famine in the Land.  Seventy people from Jacob’s family journeyed to Egypt because there was plenty of food in Egypt.  After staying there for 400 years (Yes, 400 years!) the Israelites -a God fearing nation – grew to 2 million strong. God blesses those who serve Him.

“You must serve only the Lord your God. If you do, I will bless you with food and water and I will keep you healthy. There will be no miscarriages or infertility among your people and I will give you long, full lives.” (Exodus 24: 25-26 NLT)

Two million foreigners in the land of Egypt scared the Egyptians so much that they decided to make the Israelites slaves, and treated them cruelly. The only nice thing the Egyptians did for the Israelites was to provide good food to sustain them.

The Israelites were in misery being slaves, so they prayed to the Lord for deliverance from the cruel Egyptians. The Lord heard their prayers and lead them out of captivity.

During the journey out of Egypt to a free lifestyle, the Lord performed many amazing miracles in order to move this vast group of Israelites out of Egypt. The most well known miracle is of course, the parting of the Red Sea. As time went on,  the Israelites forgot about those miracles when they didn’t have what they wanted -good food to eat. They focused on their lack and not on the fact that God knew very well what they were enduring, and He knew they would be fine.

They desired good food so much that they got angry with their leader (Moses) and told him that  it would be better to be a slave in Egypt again than to suffer this journey to a better life with just bread (manna) and water to eat!

Okay, let’s stop there.

How many of us can remember a time when we prayed for help from the Lord and He answered our prayers.  Perhaps it was to heal a child, or to land a great job, or in order to get pregnant  -whatever it was, the Lord answered.  Then years later when the newness of the desire wore off you became disgruntled due to a void in your life,  and you stopped being grateful for what God had provided for you.  Oops wrong attitude!  God watches how we acknowledge the blessings and miracles in our lives.  If we are grateful and cherish what we are given, the Lord is pleased.  If we feel entitled to more and we are mad that the Lord hasn’t continued to provide everything we desire as our fairy Godmother would, He is patient.

After several years -yes many times the Lord waits several years to see if you acknowledge your blessings-  if you continue to be ungrateful and choose to live life apart from the way the Lord teaches, He will act. Not turning from poor attitudes and actions leads to consequences from our own choices.

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil 2:14-15 ESV)

So, my take away from the journey out of Egypt by the Israelites, is that if we are given a blessing from God by an answered prayer, keep that thought in the forefront of your mind.  Better yet, take a notebook and write down all of the blessings and answered prayers so that you have tangible evidence of the Lord working in your life.  This small act will strengthen your faith and your resolve to continue on the path in life that you know is within the teachings of the Lord.  Just like the Israelites, as you are traveling your road out of the secular life (slavery) to your promised land, you will not get everything you want!  Stand on the promises of God and continue on in your life journey. The Lord knows what you are going through and He will reward your suffering and obedience to Him in the end.

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.(2 Peter 3:8)

Enjoy the Journey, even if you don’t have everything you think you need to be happy!

Lisa

God’s Promise:

Music For Your Soul:

“Hope In Front Of Me” by Danny Gokey, search it on Youtube.