March 10

Numbers 14:1-15:16, Mark 14:53-72, Psalm 53:1-6, Proverbs 11:4

Pray: Father, help me to understand that the size of my problem is not where I should focus. Help me to focus on the size of my God!

Read: The children of Israel had experienced the miracles of God in their deliverance from Egypt. Now they were faced with circumstances that challenged their belief system. Was Moses their true leader? Had God put them in this desolate wilderness? Were the obstacles that lay ahead too great? The children of Israel had started strong, but now they were collapsing as a people as they yielded themselves to doubt, murmuring, and rebellion.

Edify: Most of us remember very well coming to that point in our lives where sin had so enslaved us that we needed a deliverer. The same thing had happened to Israel. They had been enslaved in Egypt. God had raised up Moses to deliver His people. Likewise, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to deliver you and me.

The children of Israel started strong. They left Egypt with the wealth of Egypt. But shortly after they entered the wilderness their strong faith and willing obedience began to crumble. Many of us start strong in the faith but when life doesn’t go our way we find ourselves, like Israel, longing to go back to the way things once were. Many give into these longings and return to life as it was before.

The wilderness journey of Israel mirrors into our life journey. We have the opportunity to choose God’s way and God’s plan and act on both. Or, like Israel, we can walk in circles all our lives until our bones bleach in the wilderness. God has planned “the land” for us. But we have a choice. We can choose the wilderness and die walking in circles.

Practice: Practice praying what God says rather than what you might feel. Translate your prayers into actions based on what God has said rather than what you feel in any given moment. Know assuredly that there will be obstacles. Know that life won’t be a picnic. But also know that God will be right there with you.