It is [only] eleven days journey from Horeb by the way of
Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea [on Canaan’s border;
yet Israel took forty years to get beyond it]. Deuteronomy 1:2
I have heard so many teachings on this passage right here.
And in nearly all the teachings I have heard on this scripture
it would always be about how Israel sinned,
“Just imagine if Israel obeyed the Lord”, they would say.
Their journey would have taken eleven days, only eleven
days!!!
I think it is something to think about but at the same time I think
there is more to the story.
As human beings we will always sin. Yes, Israel went to the extreme
in the wilderness but sins are sins. They could off taken eleven days
if they were perfect but they were not and instead it took them forty
years!
Just imagine if they managed to make it in eleven days???
There would be no stories of disobedience and rebellion,
lack of trust and so on. Nothing would of being dealt with!
The Israelite’s needed the forty years! In that time there
was death, repentance, and a whole lot of other things
that needed to take place. This is how the word puts it:
And you shall [earnestly] remember all the way which the Lord
your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble
and to prove you, to know what was in your [mind and] heart,
whether you would keep His commandments or not.
And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger and fed you
with manna, which you did not know nor did your fathers know,
that He might make you realize and personally know that man
does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:2, 3
God LED Israel for forty years so He could reveal what was
in their hearts! More precisely He wanted to know if their
hearts were devoted to Him……
He wanted them to make Him first in their hearts!
The Israelite’s went through so much in the forty years. They
would of missed out on so much if they took eleven days!
Let’s bring this home……
Just imagine it took you eleven days to get to the place God had
for you??? A measly eleven days!!!
I was a mess and it’s taken me at least fifteen years to begin to
get out of it but there is still much work to be done! I fail God
daily, I abandon Him daily, like Peter I disown Him by my
actions a lot, when I should be praying I watch TV or
something crazy like that.
But the good news is, from the first step I took on this journey
there has been growth. My relationship with God has deepened.
I have seen Him in a new way. My faith in Him has become
stronger. The failures, the hard times, the times of doubt, the
chastening, have drawn me closer to God.
I needed the forty years, as hard and difficult as they are,
I needed them!
What about you? Do you wish it would take you eleven days?
God wants to know what’s in your heart. He will test you
in the desert. He will allow times of hunger so He can
humble you so you can know His words are all you need!
Know this, God has a plan for you in the wilderness!
You are not there by mistake……
God has allowed times of hunger to test you, will you look to
Him or will you complain and murmur??
Will you lose your faith in Him in those times??
Teach me Your way, Lord, that I may rely on Your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.
Psalm 86:11
What an amazing prayer! Lord, give me an undivided heart!
I have allowed so many things to have a piece of my heart.
This heart that should be ALL Yours!
So I pray, give me an UNDIVIDED heart Lord!
God wants Your heart. Not a piece but all of your heart.
Fight those things that have contended for it….He is all you
need.
Rolain
kingspeech 