Wednesday, August 18, 2010

DISOBEDIENCE ROOTED IN FEAR

"Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until
morning." - (Exodus 16:19)

Have you ever seen God do something really good in your life only
to find that you have abused the blessing He gave you? Such was
the case of the Israelites as they were traveling through the
desert on their way to the Promised Land. God was providing for
them in miraculous ways. Manna was provided each day as their
bread. God gave Moses specific instructions as to how this manna
was to be eaten. God said each one was to gather only what he
needed for that day. No one was to keep it until the next
morning.
"However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part
of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to
smell. So Moses was angry with them" (Ex. 16:20). God was
teaching the Israelites daily trust in His provision for them. He
wanted them to trust Him one day at a time. If they tried to
hoard, God put a self-destruct feature in the manna. Yet God also
told them to gather two days' worth on the sixth day so that they
would have manna to eat on the seventh day. Interestingly, this
manna did not stink or have maggots.
For many years I gathered manna in business out of fear of not
having enough. One day, the Lord decided that manna should be
destroyed in order for me to learn total trust in His provision.
When we operate out of fear, we can expect the Lord to lovingly
discipline us in order to help us learn to trust Him. There is a
danger when we seek to "insure ourselves" against calamity. If
your actions are born from fear, you can expect God to
demonstrate His loving reproof so that you might not live in
fear.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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