WHINERS...YEP....THAT IS WHAT THEY WERE

and so am I. My bible reading plan has me just finishing up Joshua. I couldn't help but notice a contrast between Joshua and Moses. When Moses was called out back in Exodus 3, he had every excuse possible why he shouldn't and couldn't be the one to deliver the people. Skip on over to Joshua and we see a different leader. Joshua seems to be a man of action. I read no whining by Joshua when he was called to be the leader. The Lord said do it and Joshua went at it. Full force. Right up until chapter 7, when Israel got their tails handed to them. Then we see a different Joshua. A tad bit of a dramatic Joshua. A whining Joshua. And Joshua said, "Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all - to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!" Joshua 7: 7 (NKJV) He is ripping his clothes, throwing dirt on his head, lying on the ground....whining. Echoing the complaints of the generation before. And the Lord had heard enough. So the Lord said to Joshua: "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?" Joshua 7:11 (NKJV) Having kids, I can put my own inflection on those statements. I have said similar words to my own boys. I have been frustrated with them at times with their fits. I have been embarrassed by them. I get how He feels a little bit. These passages reminded me of several things. First, I am not alone in my pity parties. I am not the first to have them and I won't be the last. Second, the Lord gets tired of them. He gets to the point where He has heard enough of my whining and calls me to get up. Thirdly, even though He may be frustrated with me or embarrassed by the fit I throw, just like me with my boys, He always loves. In the very midst of my pity party He loves me. In His correction to get up, He loves me. Deliberately....

WHO NEEDS TO SEE?

"And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments or not."

Deuteronomy 8:2 (NKJV)



Kinda stinks doesn't it. The thought that the Lord our God would deliberately deliver us into a "wilderness" to test our hearts. We have to admit, though, we can understand why. Why He needs to know if we have such a heart. Nevertheless, not exactly warm fuzzies. It should give us hope though. Hope that He is still working on us. Hope that the state of our heart still matters to Him. Hope that He is testing us, to see if we are ready for what's next.

The seeing, however, is actually ours. He already knows. We need to see that He is it. Jesus Christ is to be our overriding focus. We need to see we need Him. We need to see God doesn't leave us. Even in the barren land, when we can't see anything for miles, He still provides. In the thick forest, when we can't see anything 2 feet in front of our face, He is still leading. In either case, all we need to see is Him.

If you are feeling a wilderness season coming on, or perhaps are in the thick of it now, don't get caught up in what you don't see.

Be deliberate in what you do see.

See Jesus.

He sees you.

And every step you need to take.

SUCH A HEART...

"...'I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all they have spoken. Oh that they would have such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all my commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!' "
Deuteronomy 5:28-29 (NKJV)

The more I read, and re-read, the Old Testament, the more I see how much like the children of Israel I can be. They acknowledged the awesomeness of God. They knew He was the only God. They said all the right things.
But in their hearts...
It hurts me when I find myself doing the same thing.
Recounting all the things I have head knowledge about regarding God, things I believe, but in my heart...
When I KNOW what the Bible has said about Him and me, but in my heart...
I can tell others what Scripture promises them, I mean us , but in my heart...
I can speak truth, but in my heart...
You will find past hurts and future fears.
Look closely and you will see worries, doubts and disappointments trying to speak up.
They are all saying something.
Speaking truth without actually speaking the Truth to my heart.
It is easy, I find, to be busting forth with boldness when things are good. When miracles are happening. To proclaim and believe with my whole heart the goodness and greatness of Christ.
But like the Israelites, when I become afraid, where does my heart turn?
When I don't get the answer I think I want, what happens to my heart?
Does it shatter and scar?
Become hard and hopeless?
Maybe seal off a piece of itself?
My flesh wants it to.
My enemy wants it to.
I, and you, have to be deliberate in those moments.
Deliberately choosing which way our hearts will go.
Not that we don't have broken hearts, but that we don't keep them that way.
Not the we don't feel hurt, but we don't stay that way.
We choose to deliberately deliver our hearts to Christ Jesus.
We lay them before our Father, pieces broken off by fear and hurt, and we let Him heal it.
We let Him restore it.
Trusting that He will.
Trusting that the brokenness He has allowed is for our good and believing, through that same shattered vessel, He will bring wholeness.

Holy Spirit, give us such a heart.

Lord, give us hearts like Yours. Hearts that trust You. Hearts that fear You in a healthy manner. Hearts that know You are for us and that You are working daily to complete the good work You have started in us, painful as it may seem at times. More than anything Jesus, give us hearts that love you above all else. As the song says, may we not raise our hearts to another. In Jesus Name, Amen.