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WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL: Journey to Plenty

                                                                                               04 February, 2017

 “He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." Deut 8:15-17

Your history may be filled with pain and tears. Years you questioned if God exists. Why do we go through tough situations? It is true we do not always know what God is doing, sometimes he doesn’t tell us what he is up to. Sometimes he does, but it doesn’t stop us from panicking. There is a great lesson to be learned from the Israelite's journey across the wilderness.

The dangerous journey of the Israelites across the wilderness had a purpose. After God’s miraculous salvation men, women and children had to cross the red sea, walk through a wilderness filled with very poisonous snakes, with no food, no shelter and no water. They had been rescued from the Egyptians but not settled. They were going to be a nation with a unique Identity in a land flowing with milk and honey. Their independence from Egypt was almost instantaneous but their journey to nationhood took a process of marching across a rough terrain.

The wilderness is an example of challenges and scarcity while Canaan represents fulfilment of God’s promises and abundance. God leads us through the wilderness so it can be evidently known, the void he fills in our lives. The Israelites couldn’t buy anything with their gold and silver in the wilderness, their precious jewels were completely useless to their survival.  Perhaps, rich people sometimes feel that way. However, God protected them from the snakes, gave Manna for their food, a cloud for shelter against the heat and water for their thirst to teach them (and us) just three lessons. First, our faith and trust in God is only as real as the challenges we have weathered. Second, humility only becomes a virtue when we see how helpless we are without God. Third, our hearts are exposed to see what lodges in it when we face challenges.


Challenges create needs in our lives only God can fill. When you are going through challenges a destination lies ahead. The road might be exhausting but God is never weary. Finally, when you get to the land of your plenty, remember the One who carried you through the wilderness, never forget none of what you enjoy would be possible without Him.

“But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:13-14

One Week Reading Plan

TODAY                 Deuteronomy 8:15-18
SUNDAY               2 Corinthians 6:3-10
MONDAY             Isaiah 43:1-5
TUESDAY            2 Corinthians 4:16-18
WEDNESDAY     Psalm 126:1-6
THURSDAY         Mark 10:24-27

FRIDAY                Psalm 121:5-8
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