February 19                                   Prov 19 - 21

WHY WILDERNESS?

MEMORISE: ‘Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy Fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end…’ (Deut 8:16)
READ: Deuteronomy 8:1-6

We often look at what God allows us to suffer while going through a wilderness experience, and the next thing we ask is why such a loving God allows his precious children to go through hardship. We may find it difficult to reconcile suffering with promises such as: ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end’ (Jer 29:11). ‘As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him’ (Ps 103:13).

The children of Israel questioned God’s love for them in the midst of difficulties. In our passage today, God volunteers some answers. He wants to help cultivate virtues of humility and obedience in his children, and to prove your love towards him, whether it is feigned or real.

After waiting on the Lord for several years, God at last fulfilled his promise to Abraham and blessed him with Isaac. Some years later God observed that Abraham’s love for him was gradually being eroded and channeled towards his son provoking God to jealousy. At this point verbal reassurance would not suffice. God needed to use a trial of faith to actually ‘know what was in his heart.’ So God called for Isaac to be sacrificed. In Genesis 22, Abraham’s response shows that he was indeed a father of faith and passed the test brilliantly.

‘And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me’ (Gen 22:12). After passing the test, God reaffirmed his promises to Abraham, which later came to pass. In some cases, however, God may allow the child to die, the business may go and the wealth may develop wings and fly away, just as it happened to Job. Whatever shape your circumstances may take, always remember, God means well for you in your wilderness and he has the power to restore any good thing you might have lost back in several fold. Just rest in him. He will take you to your desired end.

ACTION POINT
If you really love God, you can let go anything and everything for him.
Do you love him this much? Then let go.