The Desert Road ~ Principles 6-10
Soul Snack 88/14 ... The desert's oppression belted down without relief. The joy of escaping Egypt was quickly replaced by the drudgery of sand-dunes, the pain of hunger and even worse, the fear of tomorrow.
With the Red Sea firmly behind and Mt Sinai securely ahead the Israelites dissolved into grumblers. God's people had melted as rapidly as a tub of butter sitting in the noonday sun.
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat round pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’ (Exodus 16:2-3)
BUT the trek through life's deserts can be walked well - learn from God's people as yet again they shine as a bad example.
To not repeat the Israelites' failure in the desert, these principles must be grasped to tread the wilderness road successfully:
6. Walk forward looking up alone, the Heavens are the only place of guidance. To look down feeds despair, and you become lost as the directions of Heaven can no longer be seen.
7. Expect life's normalities to be suspended, indeed reversed. Life has become gathering for a day and not accumulating for tomorrow. Sandals won't wear out, water flows from rocks and food falls from the skies. Heaven's fare is found to be the sweetest and freshest of all. Be thankful for these graces.
8. The only seeking in the desert is for God and guidance, for the possibility of gold and glory are long gone.
9. Be alert and aware of bandits who desire to rob or kill you, to prevent you from taking Canaan. As with Moses, hands held high to the Lord secure victory. Prayer replaces fighting for desert dwellers. (Exodus 17:11)
10. Expect much disadvantage, opposition, hardship and misunderstanding. For almost nothing that happened to the Master or Israel can a disciple expect to escape.
Never despise the suffering of the desert for it is your path to freedom.
Leonard Ravenhill was right:
"There are no reduced rates for revolution of the soul."
Only with a faith-laden courage may the desert dweller enter Canaan.
Today's Soul Snippet:
Jesus came for the lost, the least, the last and the lonely.
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