ROOTED RENEGADE

“We may speak, if we will, of the ‘wanderings of the children of Israel,’ but we must not think them purposeless strayings; they were in reality a well-arranged and well considered march.” (Spurgeon)

I had never really put too much thought into the wanderings of the Israelites before beyond what I read in the Bible. I mean, come on, the whole nation of Israel had grumbled and complained for much of the Old Testament about how miserable their lives were. They wandered around a hot desert with no where to go! They complained after being rescued from the Pharaoh’s clutches! They bickered with each other, fought with each other, probably killed a few of each other too. I mean after 40 years of incessant complaining someone was bound to get so mad they did something crazy. Wouldn’t you think so too?

Exodus 6:6-9 “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm and with great judgement. And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God. And you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land, which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give to you fro a heritage, I am the LORD.’”

As I meditate on this verse I can’t help but to wander how many of them actually understood what Moses was relaying from the mouth of God. Did any of them actually believe what God was trying to tell them before the rescue even took place? Did they even understand that while they would be rescued there would also be signs and judgements that would ensue and to be sober and of vigilant mind? To listen to Moses as he portrayed God’s beautiful message to them and take to heart what God was trying to speak to them from the servant’s mouthpiece. Instead they moaned, groaned, and all sorts of grumblings came from their lips.

Numbers 14:1-12 describes the bitterness they felt in their hearts towards their deliverer, their redeemer, the hand of God whom saved them from the clutches of death and how Moses, Joshua, and his team prayed and interceded on their behalf. The hard-headed people said in verse 2 “…O that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness!”

How often in our own lives have we looked at our own lives and questioned God’s deliverance? How often have we looked at our circumstance and thought God was out of His mind and said, “Hey, Oh sovereign Father, can you please put me back where you found me? This is too much and I like it better where you got me from?” Or what about this, we look at other people and judge their circumstances and think, “Well if he would stop doing that then his life would be so much better!” “If she would stop wandering around chasing after him, she would see how valuable she really is!” Hmmmm…how guilty are we all of this? As I write this I feel some pretty deep conviction myself.

The Israelites wandering should teach us that there was a strategic purpose, because nothing happens by accident when it comes to God. There are lessons to be learned in everything in life. Every moment can be a teachable moment if we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us. I think Spurgeon had it right in that their wanderings had purpose and their march can certainly teach us some things about ourselves as well.

1. Let’s be more loving towards others in their circumstances. People need us to love them despite what they are going through in their lives. They need comfort during a time when they don’t know which was is left or right, up or down. They need someone to listen and not judge. Just because you have been there done that, and may have the key tags to show for it, does not mean that you have the right to judge how a person walks through it. This took some time for me to understand. I was real gun-ho in wanting to help people after I was rescued, got sober, and went through some intense healing of my own. I just knew I was the complete expert and my way was the right way because it worked for me. WRONG! We are all different and while I was very passionate about, and I had a heart to help, I went about it the wrong way. I had to learn to L-O-V-E as Christ loved me and I had to fully learn to love myself. We miss the mark when we try to love others with half love or fake love or judgmental love. It does not work. We must come to a place of passionate humility. Walk the journey with people right where they are, loving them as Christ loves us and always remembering 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love suffers long and is kind; love envies not; love flaunts not itself and is not puffed up, does not behave itself improperly, seeks not its own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”
2. Don’t stop marching! Sometimes we tend to stop along the way and forget to march on when the going gets tough. The Israelites liked to stop and complain, forgetting what God had done for them. We must never, never forget the faithfulness of God. Lamentations 3:20-23 “Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: It is the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed; His compassions do not fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Maybe sometimes are wanderings are truly well considered marches into destiny. Sure, like the Israelites we grumble and complain along the way. But did they not teach us some really powerful lessons in their wilderness training? They taught us how to persevere despite any circumstance. They taught us that the giants in our lives belong to God and cannot be fought on our own accord. They taught us that God will rise up an army of His choosing, we just need to trust in Him alone. They taught us that God does not disqualify us because we grumble, complain, or make mistakes. He does however, call us to repentance. To an act of justification so that we may be sanctified through relationship.

I don’t know about you but I choose to take the Israelites wilderness experience and turn it into a beautiful lesson in my own life and MARCH ON.

Will you March with me dear friends?

@BeautifullyR3deemed2020