Love That Never Fails

30. Wilderness Wanderings

Getting to the either side of our present world crisis seems like an impossibility at times. To many, it has felt like the year has been filled with one stressful challenge after another and at times we can feel stuck, not really getting anywhere! It could be likened to wandering in the wilderness!

Moses and God's chosen people had surely endured a great deal of uncertainty as year after year went by in a literal wilderness, but now, coming out on the other side, it was clear just how much God had blessed them!

"The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything."
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭2:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I have great hope that we will eventually look back and be able to see that God has been with us throughout 2020, that He has blessed the work of our hands and watched over us as we have journeyed through. We can be totally sure that our God is with us and that we will have everything we need to get to our 'promised land'! We can have this confidence because our God does not change, He is the same yesterday, today and forever!

After such a perilous trip, Moses knew his time was coming to an end. Before he died, he gave a great speech to all the people, highlighting how faithful their God had been. He also had advice for the younger generations on how to flourish in the future:

"Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭4:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It was important that God's law was passed on from one generation to the next and Moses also stressed that they needed to continue seeking God. The promise was that if they sought after God, they would indeed find Him!

"But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath."
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭4:29, 31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How wonderful to be reassured that God would not abandon them or forget His promises! He is a covenant making God and a covenant keeping God, even in the wilderness places we may experience in our lives. Let this fact bring you comfort and hope today as we enter into the second half of 2020. Take time to remember and be thankful for the ways God has blessed You so far and commit yourself to seeking Him with all of your heart and soul.

Let's pray:

Dear Lord,

Thank You so much for the way You have blessed me over these past months during COVID-19. Its easy to feel stuck in a wilderness of worry and despair at this time of change and uncertainty but the fact is that You are with me just as You were there as the Israelites wandered through the wilderness for forty years! Thank You for all Your promises and for the hope that I have that whenever I seek You, I will find You. Thank You that I can rely on You in every situation for You are a merciful, loving God! I trust in You and chose faith over fear today!

Amen.