Forty years in the Wilderness
Is forty years a time to start hurrying? Sometimes, I feel there is so much still remaining for me to do. I become acutely aware of my own ticking biological clock. I get impatient to go ahead with the Lord's work in my life.
Surprisingly, God does not work that way. In my quiet time, He reveals that there is still a lot of ME that has to be dealt with. He seeks my heart, my plans, my efforts and my striving all to be surrendered, before He takes me away from this wilderness and places me in some certain corner of His grand master plan.
Below are some of the conversations from my quiet time.
Surprisingly, God does not work that way. In my quiet time, He reveals that there is still a lot of ME that has to be dealt with. He seeks my heart, my plans, my efforts and my striving all to be surrendered, before He takes me away from this wilderness and places me in some certain corner of His grand master plan.
Below are some of the conversations from my quiet time.
Preamble 1: 40 years in the wilderness
Deuteronomy 2:7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
Deuteronomy 8:2 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.3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Deuteronomy 8:2 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.
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Preamble 2: The Compelling Purpose of God (from Oswald Chamber's "My utmost for His highest" daily meditation)
Jerusalem, in the life of our Lord, represents the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will. Jesus said, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). Seeking to do “the will of the Father” was the one dominating concern throughout our Lord’s life. And whatever He encountered along the way, whether joy or sorrow, success or failure, He was never deterred from that purpose. “. . . He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem . . .” (Luke 9:51).
The greatest thing for us to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfill God’s purpose, not our own. In the natural life our ambitions are our own, but in the Christian life we have no goals of our own. We talk so much today about our decisions for Christ, our determination to be Christians, and our decisions for this and that, but in the New Testament the only aspect that is brought out is the compelling purpose of God. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you . . .” (John 15:16).
We are not taken into a conscious agreement with God’s purpose— we are taken into God’s purpose with no awareness of it at all. We have no idea what God’s goal may be; as we continue, His purpose becomes even more and more vague. God’s aim appears to have missed the mark, because we are too nearsighted to see the target at which He is aiming. At the beginning of the Christian life, we have our own ideas as to what God’s purpose is. We say, “God means for me to go over there,” and, “God has called me to do this special work.” We do what we think is right, and yet the compelling purpose of God remains upon us. The work we do is of no account when compared with the compelling purpose of God. It is simply the scaffolding surrounding His work and His plan. “He took the twelve aside . . .” (Luke 18:31). God takes us aside all the time. We have not yet understood all there is to know of the compelling purpose of God.
Another Knotter's song: Forty Years in the Wilderness!
I count the years as if they are precious,
and strain my life by the ticking-time-clock,
How can I lay my hand on the plowshare?
When my heart and hands they still are rough!
Forty years adrift in the wilderness,
Yet, the lessons still remain unlearned:
"It is not me or myself that will do the doing,
It's by letting go I will truly have earned!!"
My tests in life, they are very simple,
as plain as glass they stare at my face.
I get stuck by the pieces I still keep nurturing,
And as I keep proving myself, I disqualify the race.
His plans and methods they seem unusual,
But that's how He's worked time and time again.
If my heart and efforts remain un-surrendered,
I will have run the race all in vain.
Lord, help me today give up all I am clinging to,
And die to the passions that I stir in my soul,
Let me just rest in the arms of Your faithfulness,
And surrender my heart for You to make whole.
My plans and purposes, I give to your wisdom,
Surrendering them to Your grand master plan.
My hope and aspirations, I offer at Your altar,
And my ticking-time-clock I place in your hand.
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