Out of the Wilderness

"And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no." - Deuteronomy 8:2

Dear Friends,

When I reflect on my own life, I often feel that I, like Moses, wandered for  many years in the wilderness.  It is possible to be saved, to be delivered and choose to wander in the wilderness.  This wandering can take many forms.  In my own life I spent a lot of time trying to work things out, looking back and wishing that... "woulda, coulda, shoulda." I allowed myself to get distracted.  I wandered in the wilderness because I did not really understand God's grace.  It was the grace of God that led the children of Israel out of Egypt and the same grace is still leading us today.  It was the grace of God that parted the Red Sea. Grace. It was grace that fed them with manna from on high.  There was nothing that they did or could do to earn this favor.  Simply grace.

Today, personally, I am remembering that all the way and in all ways the Lord, My God has led me.  He led me in the wilderness and He brought me out.  I have learned humility where once I was prideful.  Broken in the wilderness, wandering, but..."twas grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me on."  The wilderness experiences in our life are often the valleys but we can be on the mountain top and be in the wilderness if we are not allowing God to direct our lives.  

The Psalmist wrote: 

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."  - Psalms 139:23-24

If you are in the wilderness, trust that God is with you and He is able to bring you through.  On the other side of the wilderness, in the place called "deliverance" do not fail to acknowledge how you got there.

Andrae Crouch wrote these words in the song Through It All:

I thank God for the mountains,
And I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms
He brought me through;
For if I'd never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do.

Thank you Lord for bring me out of the darkness and into the marvelous light.  You have been with me through it all!

"Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.

The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad."

   - Psalms 126:2-3

 Praise God!

in Christ,

Sis. Stephanie