Wandering in the Desert

The one thing that strikes me most as I mentally walk back through the wilderness journeys I have taken over the last ten plus years, is how like the Israelites of the Exodus I find I am.

As they traveled through terrain none of us would likely even survive, they complained there was no water. After three days of walking in the scorching desert heat, I too would have found myself complaining. Going back through so many journals, I find I have, in many cases, complained over far less.

They found themselves blaming those near them and those in charge when things did not work out the way they envisioned. I also have been guilty of blaming others for what I brought upon myself. They found only bitterness in the waters of Marah. How many of us, while stumbling through our desert experiences, also began to sense the ugly root of bitterness rising up in our souls? Did we cling to it and bemoan our disappointments? Do we still cling to it today? Or did we allow the Lord to cast His word into it and turn the bitter waters sweet, bringing us back to a place of contentment in Him where we can both abase and abound?

Over and over, the Lord told them how to obey and be blessed. Over and over, they fell into sin, seeking some small comfort in that barren place in the darkness of their souls where no comfort could be found. God has spoken so many promises to us, promises through His word but also promises for us personally, showing us what lies ahead if we will obey Him. Many mistakenly think they can walk into their destiny no matter how they act, but God is the same yesterday, today and forever and there are conditions to receiving great blessings, He requires our obedience to receive great destinies from Him.

The story of the Exodus in the Bible is there for our edification and our instruction. It is there that we may learn from the long desert journey of others like us who, though they lived many centuries before us, were as much like us as if they were our next door neighbors. They too trekked through life's difficult places on their way to something better the Lord had promised them. They ate, slept, loved, laughed and mourned just as we do. They are not cardboard people from long ago but actual living beings that lived out the story we read today.

It is a difficult process seeing the many times I have failed to react as I should have, the many times I did not do what I was told to do, the many times where I got off course.

And I can't help wondering where I am now in my journey, and whether I will, at some point, be allowed to cross the Jordan and defeat the giants that have for so long plagued me, or if I will be left on the other side wandering in the desert, wondering what might have been.