With a new year comes new opportunities as well as challenges. While there is so much to look forward to, there are also a host of things to overcome: fear, limited resources, and lack of strength and courage—just to name a few.
With this I’m reminded of what Moses said to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8:2, “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands” (NIV).
After nearly thirty nine years as a Christ-follower, I’m closing in on the forty year mark —the amount of time the Israelites accumulated in the wilderness—plenty of time (one would think) for any level-headed person to trust that God would come through in challenges, difficulties and set-backs. But why does God allow problems to seemingly block progress in my spiritual journey, and why do I fail to trust that He will be there for me?
Later in the Deuteronomy 8 passage, Moses says: “[God] gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today” (verses 16-17, NIV).
Even before the forty-year wilderness jaunt, Israel was witness to God’s rescue as He led them out of Egypt toward the Promised Land. There they seemed to be stuck without hope, wedged between an impassable body of water and an eminent massacre by a fast approaching Egyptian armada.
When faced with challenges my first tendency is to panic. I see things like most of the Israelites probably did on their way out of Dodge: I measure my resources and my own abilities and immediately gulp with the realization that I will surely fail on my own!
To surrender is exactly what God wants me to do!
In Exodus 14 we see the narrative of God’s miraculous rescue of Israel from the Egyptian army: “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still'” (verses 13-14, NIV).
“Be still,” God says, but I am inclined to run out and chase those chariots, thinking that I can fend off the threat of my adversaries. I’m seriously mistaken and terribly defeated when I do.
I’m embarrassed to say that I have chased chariots many times in the past thirty nine years of my God-walk. Lord, please forgive me. Help me to remember that, at the end of my strength, Your mighty hand is ready to intervene—You’re excited to show power and victory in my life.