OK – so this whole wilderness thing. I like it!
I would love to go camping with You! How awesome is that! To be brought to a place where all other distractions are stripped away. Where the only choices are looking to You or looking at the rocks. I choose You! You provide all things in the wilderness and I can not depend on anything else.
Honestly everyday can be a wilderness without You. I have lived in wilderness apart from you so long. Now I want to go with You – to see the mighty things You are faithful to do.
You did not take the Hebrews out of Egypt, to test them – they tested You. You always intended to provide their needs. You had provision and care prepared. You wanted them to come camping with You to see your strength revealed in the liberation from Egypt. Then they would be your people and You would be their God. But first – You had to reveal their hearts – my heart – the fallen man’s heart that does not trust you. You brought the Law to them in the wilderness to school them in what they did not want to hear. That they could not depend on themselves – only you alone.
You did not bring them to the wilderness to die. You brought them there to bring them closer to You. Exodus 3 and 5 explain that it was to be brief and the pathway to the promised land.
But Psalm 78 and Hebrew 3 shows me they tested You. Their hardness of heart is what lead to their destruction. They did not know You or trust You.
Everyday is a wilderness potential for me, if I live it apart from You. You alone love me, and define me, and continue to redefine what I think about myself and others. When I depend on my own understanding and interpretation of life – very quickly the dry, dusty, desert winds blow into my experience. I do not want to stay in those dry places. I want to go with You where You want to lead me – pastures green and full of life.
I want to find myself trusting You more daily and place less confidence in my strength.
Again today I am overwhelmed. You are incredible. I love You!
carlehenderson
