Walking Through The Wilderness

Throughout my adult Christian life, I have found myself praying "Lord, please help me to not be like an Israelite!".   It has always amazed me how after God rescued them out of Egypt, after sending the plagues and parting the Red Sea, feeding them manna and quail, they still grumbled and complained, made idols, and worshipped them.  After all of the miracles they saw and experienced, they still doubted and forgot God.  They even wanted to go back to Egypt, where they had been so mistreated as slaves.  It is easy for us to look at them and think, "how could you forget all that God did for you?!", but then when I look at my own life, I can see some of my own tendencies to be just like the Israelites. 

These last months, I feel God has taken me into the wilderness.  Even though Houston was nothing like an Egypt, I knew that God was leading me out of that place toward my own calling/promise land. I am wandering in the wilderness with nothing but God to count on, not knowing exactly where I am going, and having to trust His leading and His provision for everything.   

Lately, it has been hard to not look back and think, "why did I leave? I want to go back! Life was good in Houston with dance, work, and a community of friends. What am I doing here in Hawaii?"  But then I have to remember all that God did as he led me to leave Houston: the answered prayers, the "yes" word, the peace that I felt, the opened doors.   It is so easy to forget what God has done.  It is so easy to focus on what we don't have and the unknowns, rather than the blessings we have received and the things that He has spoken and already revealed to us.  

I think we have the choice of how we will walk through the wilderness because at some point we all walk through it.  Do we walk through it grumbling and complaining about what we don't have?  Or do we walk through it with eyes of thanksgiving, remembering and recognizing God's presence along the way?  Do we waste the time away thinking what life could be or do we embrace the moment to press into God to know Him more?  Do we put all of our energy into worrying or do we trust that God is good no matter what the outcome?  

The theme I have been hearing over and over here at YWAM Kona is know God and His nature.  Who do you say that He is?  What is He really like?  

Here are a few gold nuggets from different speakers from the last three months:

• If God's faithfulness is determined by our circumstances, then we are in trouble.  We can't reduce the nature of the Father to our own personal experience.
• We can misinterpret the season that we are in if we don't know the true nature of God.  
• The way that we perceive Him is the way that we perceive ourselves, our circumstances, and the world.  
• The enemy loves to keep us focused on what God isn't doing. Thanksgiving is a weapon.
• The wilderness reveals what we really believe about God.
• When we stop being fascinated by the God of the impossible, we reduce ministry to our giftings.

We can make it our mission to know God as we walk through the wilderness.  We will never aimlessly wander in circles without purpose when we remember that our true purpose is to be in relationship with Him.  It is out of our intimacy with Him that ministry overflows.  

What a blessing it has been to be here.  To learn more about the love of God.  To be challenged and refined in this beautiful place.  I cherish the smiling faces of my kids that I teach every week and their sweet hellos as I see them and their families around campus.  I love sitting back and observing how God is restoring and refreshing people during their time here.  I love seeing people come alive as God sparks dreams and visions and reveals people's destinies.  It is so special to meet people from all over the world and hear their stories of what God is doing in other nations.  What a blessing it is to walk through the wilderness in this unique place full of faith, hope, and encouragement.  

It only takes the faith of a mustard seed to keep putting one foot in front of the other, taking each step with the purpose to know the one who is faithfully and strategically leading the way.   The work that He does in us is what overflows to make His name known to the nations.  Do the possible, so He can do the impossible, and then remember with thanksgiving what He has done along the way.

Deuteronomy 8:1-18 A Call to Remember and Obey

“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. 5 Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, theLord your God disciplines you for your own good.

6 “So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. 8 It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. 9 It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. 10 When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

11 “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. 12 For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, 13 and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! 14 Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 15 Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! 16 He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. 17 He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ 18 Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath."