Walking by Faith in the Wilderness

I have finished up the study in John and I am doing a series originally by Rick Ezell at our church. It is a five part series, with the first one being on faith. These next postings will be my versions of this series. And so Walking by Faith in the Wilderness.

So much is written about faith these days. We think and talk about trusting God, and try, even though we stumble at times, to walk by faith. Many times, it is our trying that trips us up.

God wants us to learn to live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). This means living with the idea that He is able to do what we cannot do for ourselves. What a victorious thought! It is also a marvelous invitation to experience freedom from doubt, worry, and disbelief.

But, before we can trust God fully, we must come to a point of helpless dependence. It is here that we realize we simply cannot do it all, be all that is needed, and have all the answers. If we could, there would be no need for God. We would be in total control and very proud of it.

While God gives us the ability to solve many of the problems we face, His great desire is for us to live our lives dependent on Him. Godly dependence is not a sign of weakness but one of immeasurable strength and confidence. There are problems in life that only God can solve, tasks only He can perform, and solutions that can only be discovered through the wisdom He gives.

The basic foundation to faith is this: trust God more than you trust yourself. When you do this, you gain wisdom and hope for the future.

As we observe the leadership of the our Lord and His working in the lives of Israel, and as we observe the response of the Children of Israel, there are five things I want us to consider, specifically as they relate to our walk as Christians.

Exodus 15-16

God calls us to walk by faith: Ex 1:8 ~ Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

Israel spent 430 years in Egypt and a good part of that as slave labor (Ex. 12:40-42). Now they were finally leaving Egypt and headed to the “Promise Land.” All was good right? Or was it? After all who in this generation had been to the “Promise Land”? They couldn't Google it, and the Bible doesn't mention anything about a map Moses followed. The Israelites were leaving Egypt and all they had known and all their parents before them had known. And now they were going to a place that they only knew from stories that were passed down. And they weren't even sure how to get there. 

Ex 15:22 ~ and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; 
midbār (mid-bawr) is the Hebrew word used here for wilderness, and it implies desert. 

shûr (shoor) is a Hebrew word that means a region of the Desert 

These folks who had only known fertile Egypt and big cities, were now literally walking in a desert wilderness. This was not what they had signed up for. When you find yourself in the desert you have two choices. You can try and get through it on your own or you can walk by faith with God, ~ The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. (Ex 13:21)

God’s direction always has purpose

In the midst of trials which seem meaningless to us at the time, God has a purpose. God has a plan and a purpose for your life as a whole. He is continually in the process of preparing you to become the person whom He intends you to be. In day-to-day life, God has a plan and a purpose for everything that becomes a part of your life. And makes you who you are. Sometimes the only way some of us will submit ourselves to God’s plan is for us to experience anguish, pressure, trials, tribulations, or heartaches. If that is the case, the Lord will use adversity to lead you to a place in your spiritual life where you will turn to Him, and trust Him more. 

You cannot know God’s full plan for your life. From time to time, you may have glimpses of what God still has in store for you to become or do. You are finite. God is infinite. He alone can see the full scope of your life and how you fit into His plan for the ages. God always sees purpose in everything, and furthermore, He sees the eternal purpose. Trust God today, Eternal God to have a purpose for you.

God provides for us along the way (15:22-27; 16:13-16)

God provides in accordance to what we need, not necessarily according to what we want. God provides as we need – He wants us to trust Him for our Daily Bread – This builds faith.

God does not express Himself in general or ambiguous terms, but specifically meets your practical needs. God provides in unique and often miraculous ways. Manna, Quail, Sour/Sweet Water. 

Whatever your situation today, there is a promise from God to meet every need. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Phil 4:19-20 Sadly Christians deprive themselves of their most solid comforts by their unbelief and forgetfulness of God’s promises. Let God provide for you, He wants to and He can.

God calls us to gratitude

In all their doings, the most glaring sin of the Israelites was the sin of ingratitude. Their attitude was one of ungratefulness and thanklessness. Instead of continuing to praise God for His deliverance from Egypt, instead of worshiping Him and acknowledging His continued presence with them, all they could do was murmur and complain that He had not done enough. Complaining is the opposite of gratitude. The very fact that you are complaining says you don’t appreciate what you’ve been given, that you think you deserve better.

When we gripe rather than give thanks, when we protest rather than praise, we are telling the Lord several things:

• That we deserve better than God has given us – This is the sin of pride – we think we are better than the station to which He has assigned us.
• That God does not know what we really need – that we know better – This is arrogance – we think we are more aware of our own needs than the One who created us.
• That God does not really love us, or He would have given us what we wanted – This is immaturity. Like children we whine and complain that we didn’t get what we wanted.
• Finally we tell God that we are unappreciative, that we are not mindful of all that He has done for us in the past and that nothing done for us in the past matters- only what we want now: This is forgetfulness.
• What does your attitude towards God say about you? Are you acting like a spoiled brat or will you show God the gratitude He deserves?

God calls us to obedience

At the end of the day obedience is nothing more than faith in action. It is saying, “God I trust you enough to do what You say.” For the Israelites, obedience was the ultimate test of faith.

God did not ask them to reason with Him. He did not tell them that He would rationalize His directions with them, He did not invite them to dialogue or to a question and answer time. He simply called them to obey. To go where He said go, to do what He said do and to trust Him to be there before them and meet their needs.

We are called to walk by faith, not by sight. We follow a God of purpose, we may not always be able to see His purpose, but it is ever there. Ours is a God who promises to provide, and He has never once failed us. His provision calls us to gratitude.

Concision: Let me suggest three ways you can live a life of gratitude:

1. Trust God to do His best for you – He is good and He loves you – trust Him to give you what is best for you.
   
   
2. Praise God for all He has given you – Count your blessings instead of your burdens. Look at all He has done and give Him thanks.
   
   
3. Respond to what God has done for you – look for a tangible way to express your gratitude to God. Gratitude necessitates obedience. God calls us to obedience. After all He is God we are not.