Romans 5: 1-4 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
What is your attitude as you wait for God's promises to be fulfilled? Are you frustrated? Do you feel stagnant? Are you angry? Do you feel jealous of others who are experiencing what you've been waiting for years and who may not have had to make the same sacrifices you have? Do you complain to God? Do you ask Him where the things He promised you are? Do you sometimes almost blackmail Him by reminding Him of verses related to His integrity (the ever-popular Numbers 23:19)? I'm not asking these questions intending to judge you...far from it. I'm here to tell you that these questions are normal because you are a human being with a heart of flesh that can feel impatience. However, it becomes problematic when these questions don't leave you, when they persist, when they remain in your mind every day and practically become subjects of daily meditation. (Judges 1:16; Numbers 11:1-3; Numbers 14:26-30; 1 Corinthians 10:10, etc.). For complaining, murmuring, implies that we believe we deserve something. But everything we hope to receive or have already received is the fruit of God's grace. So today we're going to identify the right attitude to have when walking in the wilderness (we've all been there).
The famous journey in the wilderness
God allows all of us to go through a time of apprenticeship, during which He
helps us to strip away the old man within us that distances us from the person
of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4: 21-24 “when you heard
about Christ and were taught in him by the truth in Jesus. 22 You
were taught, about your former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to
be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put
on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness.
The purpose of this season, which we'll call the wilderness journey,
where sometimes nothing seems to work, is to bring forth your best version.
Think of it as your time of pregnancy and believe that soon you'll give birth
to the version of you that reflects the identity of Christ and will be ready to
enter the Promised Land. Let's think of God's promises as the Holy Land for
which God commanded Moses to take off his sandals. We must therefore put on
this new man, free from all defilement, if we are to enter these promises. They
are graces that should testify to God's mercy, glory, and all the good things
that characterize what comes from God (purity, truth, beauty, greatness, etc.).
Pride, greed, and selfishness can prevent us from reflecting the identity of
Christ in times of financial prosperity, for example. Pride can prevent us from
living a long and happy marriage because we don't know how to make concessions
and forgive. Individualism can prevent us from properly impacting our
environment and being good leaders.
During this season of learning, the best attitude to have is not that of
a victim who complains about everything, but that of a child of God who is
aware of God's love and of our sinful nature that is unworthy of God's grace,
and who needs the help of the Holy Spirit to reach that stature that is close
to the identity of Jesus Christ. The best thing to do is not to murmur in our
heart, but to ask for the Holy Spirit's help to grasp the lessons that God
wants us to learn in this season. Otherwise, we might miss the real change that God seeks in our lives. Because the change that matters to God is not the one that gets us from poor to rich, from unknown to popular, from singles to married, and so
on. God doesn't care about any of that. The change that matters to Him is the
one where we go from being an unconscious sinner to being the perfect image of
Christ, where we shine like Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai. (2 Corinthians 3: 18 “And
we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being
transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from
the Lord, who is the Spirit.”).
God doesn't want us to cling to Him because of what we're looking for,
but because we love Him. We don't have to seek Him to get rich. He has
already provided the principles for accumulating wealth (Genesis 3:19). Some wealthy atheists have never had to do spiritual
retreats, fasting, or praying. We don't have to pray to become leaders; there
are so many books on leadership. The
list is so long that I could even say we don't have to pray to have anything
material on this earth because God has given all men, not just Christians, the
power to rule over the earth (Genesis 1:26-30). However, suppose we want wealth, leadership, power, ministry, a spiritual life, etc. that exudes the identity and omnipotence of Christ. In that case, we absolutely must first love
God (because we're seeking His interests in our lives) and have the level of intimacy
with God that can only be found in prayer. So during this journey in the
wilderness, it's the perfect time to have that intimacy; because we're away from distractions. We're
at a point where we know that our only point of reference is God Himself and
that our only option is to follow Him. But we can't follow what we don't
see, what we don't know exists, and that's what will drive us to seek Him, to
know Him, to recognize His voice, to have that intimacy with Him.
As you walk through the desert,
may you not miss this opportunity to become intimate with God!!!!
EXODUS 13 : 21 “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a
pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of
fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.”
