Two reasons you might be in the desert. Number1,
preparation. Number 2, grumbling.
Moses, John, and Jesus all went into the desert. Moses
spent 80 years of his life in a desert. The first time that Moses went into the
desert he was being prepared to be used of the Lord. Moses had to be torn away
from everything that he knew so that nothing about his former self could
interfere with the voice of the Lord. A lot of times when we hear God’s voice,
we try to get advice from people that may not know God on the level that he
desires for us to know him on. Moses had to learn how to be alone with God and
depend on his instructions instead of other people’s opinion. Just imagine,
what if Moses was still in Egypt when God gave him the official ok to be used
as a tool to lead the Israelites to freedom. Sometimes people get so familiar
with you that they don’t respect your anointing so you have to be moved away
from them. Egypt was familiar with Moses and those people thought that they
knew him. They were familiar with his background, but they had no clue about
his anointing. That alone place will reveal to you who you are in Christ. Your
true identity begins to show once you have been hanging out with Jesus.
The desert will spark a fire for the things of God on
the inside of you. When you have been spending time with God as your only
source of friendship you will want to burn up everything around you for his
glory and not your own. John was a man that was about God’s business. He was
filled with the Holy Ghost even when he was in the womb. He was a fire starter
for the glory of God. When you hang around God, it will not matter what other
people have to say about you because your confidence will be in Him. John was
living in a time where it was important for him to know who he was in Christ.
He had to be able to handle the fame that his anointing brought him, but he
also had to have the humility to know when to step aside so that Jesus could shine.
The desert will teach you who God is. John could not allow himself to pick up
the mindset of a Pharisee.
The beautiful thing about Jesus going into the desert
is that he went through what he had to go through and came right on out. I’m sure
that it was not easy to be hot, hungry, and tempted for 40 days but Jesus did it
without grumbling. The true you will come out when you are in the desert. Are
you going to grumble are or you going to go through what you are sent to go
through and come on out so that you can go to work for the Lord? The desert
proves if you are ready or not to handle the weight of your anointing. If you
are not ready, you will remain in the place that you are in until your attitude says
that you are ready to come out.
In the case of Israel, God did a great work in their
lives. They were slaves for hundreds of years and God saved them through miracles, signs, and wonders. They were free, but yet they grumbled. You cannot go into
the place that God has called you to go to grumbling. These people that God loved had
to spend 40 years in a desert when they were only supposed to make an 11 day
trip to the land that God would give them.
We should have a repentant heart before the Lord for
the way that we treat him. Sometimes we treat God as if he is common and can be
compared to man. I have both done and thought some terrible things before the Lord
so how dare I get upset with him about anything. As I read Numbers 14, I thought
about how I must sound to God. I have been grumbling a lot lately on my field
trip with the Lord. My first mistake is not realizing that it is a field trip
and my second mistake is questioning whether God will actually do what he said
he would. If many of us actually take a look at our lives we will see the
moving hand of God. When God allowed Israel to get a 40 day glimpse at what he
was about to give them, they looked at their might and said that they would not
be able to obtain it. They failed to look at the God who parted the red sea on
their behalf. In Numbers 14 God asked Moses, “How long will these people treat
me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all
the signs I have performed among them?”
Lord the first thing that I need to do is hold the mirror
up to my own face. I pray that you forgive me for grumbling. Lord I pray to
have the faith, courage, and passion that you gave to Joshua and Caleb. Lord I
pray to see as you see. I pray to keep in mind that you are with me. I pray to
take your word to heart and not cast it aside. I pray to live this life with
you in faith that no word that you have ever spoken will fail. Lord I pray to be
quick about performing the instructions that you give me and to speak well of
the things that you are showing me and allowing me to experience. I pray to
enjoy where I am on the way to where I am going, in Jesus name, Amen.
“As you celebrate the Lord, He will celebrate you”
~Bishop David A Richey
Recommended
Reading:
Exodus 2:11-25, Exodus 3
Numbers: 13 and 14 (2 chapters)
Deuteronomy 1:2
Luke 1:80
Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13, Mark 1:9-13
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