** But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. ** Exodus 14:29
** For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: unto whom the Lord sware that he would not shew them the land, which the Lord sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. ** Joshua 5:6
Two different decisions. Two different outcomes.
The first passage tells us of the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea. The children of Israel had just been freed from Egypt and slavery. They were now free to worship God as they were meant to.
Their faith was fresh and overflowing. Their faith thermometer was running hot. They were suddenly in the midst of walls of water, towering and thundering on either side of them, yet, they were safe and unharmed. It is an amazing object lesson of how the Lord was going to protect them on their journey in a hostile land. They were literally walking amidst the power and presence of God as He held back the powers of darkness and death.
The Lord delivers them and their faith increases all the more.
Time passes. Life gets a bit dull. The honeymoon is over.
The children of Israel begin to look at their circumstances and take their eyes off of God. The miracles are fading memories. Their focus is not on Who protects them and cares for them. They lose confidence in Moses and his ability to hear from God.
They start making some bad decisions. They let their emotions, and their eyes lead them. They see the desert. They see what is and not what will be. They look at the moment and not the faithful history. They stop walking in faith. They listen to complainers, they play with sin, they stop walking with God or with Moses.
Now, they are making their own decisions. They are looking at things from their own point of view. God is not in all their thoughts. They don’t like the life that He has given them. They are not praying for His will but for their own. They are self-exalting and prideful instead of grateful, praising and humble. They are listening to the wrong voices ….those of others and their own.
Walking with the Lord is not a given. It is not automatic.
It is intentional. Conscious. Deliberate.
It is about making daily choices. Hourly choices. Minute to minute choices.
It is about prayer. Yielding. Surrender. Humbling oneself before the Creator of the universe.
It is a constant seeking of the Lord’s perspective on everything.
It is choosing the right road to walk on.
Because we can walk a long time on the wrong path and never get where we want to go.
Walking WITH God is sharing the load, and allowing Him to carry most of it. It is trusting that He won’t let go of His side. It is being okay with Him taking the lead.
It is about listening. It is about questioning in a way that seeks real answers. They are not questions of rebellion, but a seeking of Truth.
An entire generation missed it. The Lord saved their lives, freed them from being enslaved by a merciless ruler. And gave them a brand new start.
But they decided they liked it better in slavery.
The Lord didn’t let them go back. They were still His chosen nation. He still had a plan to work out. But that generation wouldn’t ever see it.
He still took care of them. He still protected them from their mistakes.
But they didn’t live abundantly. They barely lived.
Unhappy. Unfulfilled. Empty. Leanness in their souls. Religious.
The choice is always up to us. Life in the desert or the Living Waters.
A barren existence or abundant living.
Walk with God…or…walk alone.