Mistaken Hope

Provision in the wilderness

Exodus 16:1–3 NKJV

And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

This story is recoded for us as a reminder of where we should be looking for hope!

It was only months since they left Egypt and their eyes were on their idea of what should be happening

It seems to be a pattern with God’s people!

Exodus 14:10–12 NKJV

And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

Exodus 15:22–24 NLT

Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”). Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded.

And again of course they were once again complaining about the circumstances

Living by circumstantial faith is a dangerous and destructive practice!

James put it this way

James 1:2–4 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Difficult times produces strengthened perseverance!

The Scripture says

Jeremiah 12:5 AMP

[But the Lord rebukes Jeremiah’s impatience, saying] If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if [you take to flight] in a land of peace where you feel secure, then what will you do [when you tread the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions] in the swelling and flooding of the Jordan?

James goes on to say

James 1:5–8 NLT

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

You see the people in the wilderness didn’t even bother to ask God for deliverance! They immediately thought about their previous condition in Egypt!

The enemy never reminds us of the results of the sin we were living but rather the false sense of security and peace we thought we found!

There was a moment early on in my journey of deliverance that I found myself looking back at the old life. I was with a group of people who were partying hard. Some cocaine was offered to me and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to do just a little. Beside, I had come so far from he days of addition

The next morning while doing my devotional God asked me a difficult question, “What are you doing on the road back to Egypt?”

You see we are on a Journey! There is a destination in front of us that looks so far away but the place we have come from is just a few steps behind!

Luke 9:62 NLT

But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Hebrews 11:14–15 NKJV

For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.

Look at that verse -”if they had called to mind” where they had come from - failure!

The word “called” there is the word which mean to remember and respond!

Living in the past leads to the failures of the past!

In contract the life of victory is looking up!

Colossians 3:1–2 AMP

IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.

Literally the Greek here says to “Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].”

We are encouraged to “keep” our eyes focused on God and not on the things around us!

Philippians 2:14–16 NLT

Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.

Hold firmly to the word of life!

Life is difficult

We travel through rough and dangerous places but God’s promise is to bring a victory

Isaiah 27:3 NLT

I, the Lord, will watch over it, watering it carefully. Day and night I will watch so no one can harm it.

Let’s pray