RTW March 3

Then…

Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night.
Numbers 14:1

 

 

My Takeaways

Something Old

I need to be careful what I wish for.

Something New

What do I do then?

When I get to the end of my wait, and things don’t look like I think they should, what do I do then?

  • Do I rebel? to resist or rise against some authority
  • Do I revolt? to turn away in mental rebellion, utter disgust
  • Do I choose a new leader?
  • Do I treat God with contempt? disdainful rejection, provoke

Or

  • Do I trust God, regardless of the giants in front of me?
  • Do I recommit myself to following His plan?
  • Do I continue to submit to leadership?

Something to Do

Evaluate what do I do then.

 

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27 Comments

  1. Great lesson Wendy! In thinking along those lines of “this doesn’t look like I expected”…. The Lord says How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me! AGAIN and AGAIN they tested or provoked the Lord to anger by refusing to obey and treated Him with contempt. You wanted this, so now you get it!!! So now, they will discover what it’s like to have God for an enemy! Num 14:34 WOW! There’s a frightening scenario! THEN the next day they were filled with grief and said “let’s go, NOW we’re ready to do what the Lord told us to do”. Oh, but NOW it’s too late! Moses says….why are you disobeying AGAIN? IT WON’T WORK!!! The Lord won’t be with you NOW. The Lord will abandon you because you have abandoned Him! Point being here that DELAYED obedIence is DISOBEDIENCE!!! and for them it was very costly.

    Father God, please help me to not provoke you to anger by my whining and complaining! You are for me, not against me, and my desire is to hear and obey you, immediately, no matter what MY expectations are. YOU know the plan for me including every small detail and step I need to take and YOU are ALL I ever need and I praise you that you have not abandoned us and are faithful to forgive us when we stumble and fall and accept us with arms wide open!

  2. Good Morning! Thank YOU for meeting with us each day, Wendy. You are such a sweetheart. I soooo needed to hear this today. I’m all bummed out as on a weight loss missing to get back to a goal I maintained many years after weightloss surgery and this week the scale has been evil to me despite very low calories, committed daily walking etc and I have been so frustrated and literally pouring my heart out to God, ready to give up saying things like “Really God, what else am I supposed to do here, help me out please?!” So this really made me stop and think. Thank you so much for this wake up call!

  3. What do I do then?
    God, forgive me for the times that at the end…. I didn’t trust that you still had a plan.
    At the dissolution of my marriage….
    My oldest son returning home after his first unsuccessful semester of college…
    My youngest son’s life turned literally upside down…!!!
    My mother being diagnosed with a rare kidney disease…
    I have seen your grace and wonders and know that your love is unfailing! You are a protecter of your people when we obey your commands.
    Gracious God give me strength and courage to know what to do then.
    Something to do
    Seek God for what do I do?

  4. Wow! The first thing I wrote down today was how the Israelites considered death as a better option. In the midst of deep depression I can remember crying out in anger to the Lord the same thing. Why not just take me? I don’t see why in the world you would put me here Lord? Just like the Israelites said that their wives and children would be carried off as plunder, I thought my family would be better off without me. Until listening to Wendy’s lesson today though I never connected the feelings I had to how the Israelites must have felt at that time. Just total devastation! Then I asked myself all the questions Wendy talked about and, boy oh boy, have I ever been disdainful and rebellious towards the Lord for even thinking I shouldn’t be on Earth. I have done every one of those first set of questions for years and it has left me in the wilderness. I know going forward I will not be perfect but I choose to follow those second set of questions because God is good. Thank you for your message today!

    2. I’m just now working to get caught up in my readings. I had a tough weekend as I attended the funeral of a friend who despite his faith and the love and support of his family and friends could no longer fight his mental illness and took his life. I got so much out of this reading and lesson, but it was your comment that really hit home with me. I just wanted to tell you that even though we have never met, I am so very glad that you are here. God bless.

  5. Thank you for your message today Wendy, and for your honesty. This message really spoke to me, as I have recently been feeling like “Really God? This sure doesn’t look like I thought it would.” The phrase about being in mental rebellion really hit me. I am going through the motions, but in my mind I’ve been saying “God, this can’t be your plan”. Lord, forgive me. Help me to trust you regardless of how things look. Help me to know what you would have me do now. Amen.

  6. Keeping it real here……
    I’ve NEVER looked at the Israelites actions and could relate it to something that is present day happenings within my life.
    Wendy, you have a special “gift” of God to be able to take the Old Testament scriptures and share with us how we could bring it to today’s challenges, we too have in our Christian walk…….and God uses you to speak to my heart!

    I am so grateful as I read through the OT this year, my eyes have been opened to so many more things than ever before and I can truly say, I love reading the old testament! Then when I watch the video, I’m so blessed to have you bring it right down to our everyday lives!

    Thank you Wendy, for this Bible Study!!

    Blessings to all.
    Carolyn

    2. amen Carolyn and what a great point. I started thinking about how this compares to my life past and present. I have to be honest and say I found recalled many examples.

  7. Great lesson. I stopped and looked back after reading that first sentence today also…like what are they traumatized over again? lol I don’t know, maybe because I am not a strong and driven personality, but I always am more fearful of being pushed outside my comfort zone into the unknown. I usually go to God and beg for strength and empowerment to walk whatever the path may be…of course, I always feel living in the USA we have it pretty easy most of the time. So, I wrap my head around what God has in store is better than anything I can dream up…I trust Him. I don’t want to live in fear and that is my biggest weakness. Staying where we are comfortable is like staying in captivity in Egypt, I guess. Recently I have stepped out of my comfort zone and there are days I just want to recoil and go back to what feels more safe and protected. This Bible Study is helping me keep God in the center. Each day is a new day and setting down here with you all get’s my Leader out in front of it.
    I can’t imagine being told that I was going to wonder in the desert for 40 years and NEVER reach the final destination and my children would suffer for my actions of lack of faith….something to think about.

    2. awesome. I have felt this way at times too. Actually, recently at work and thinking of the work it takes to get into a new friendship or relationship. I started thinking my old job was easier, my current friends are cool and ah I will just stay single lolol. These lessons are challenging as much in the practical areas of my life as the spiritual. I love Wendy. I did her Psalms bible study years ago and I was so blessed and still have all of the lessons.

  8. Thank you, Wendy, for helping me to make it “real” with today’s powerful lesson. I sometimes forget that that the Holy Spirit intercedes for me. Praise God!!

  9. Thank you for your words everyday. I thank God for you and have told so many people about Read through the word. You are like a friend I meet every morning to talk about God. Love you and love the message you bring every day.

  11. This lesson is so challenging. After years of praying and believing I knew what God wanted the outcome to be…I have stood and witnessed the total opposite. Not just once, but many times. What do I do then? (What a powerful and provocative question!)

    I was having this very conversation with a small group of friends this morning. The “outcomes” being shared around that kitchen table were staggering! As we cried and prayerfully talked, however, we were able to give praise to Him and to come to one very simple and solid truth…..The victory is not in the outcome, nor is there defeat in the fact that our lives look so very different than we thought they would, (we have known each other for over forty years and loved and walked with Jesus for all that time). I am convinced that the “what then” can ONLY be answered in Him. When we look elsewhere we are disappointed. The joy and the abiding must be in Him, alone.

    Thank you, Wendy, for meeting with us each day. It is a blessing and it surely is good for me, as well.

  12. Hi Wendy,
    RTW has been a huge blessing in my life! Thank you for all the study and preparation you do to bring us a daily lesson. The OT is challenging for me and I appreciate your “keeping it real” and making it more meaningful for me. With gratitude, Debbie

  13. Thanks so much Wendy for this lesson! Thanks for being apart of my life everyday. I always enjoy my day when I read my Bible and listen to your video for each lesson. I am so glad I joined RTW this year. You are an awesome teacher Wendy. And you really open my eyes to the Bible. It is always refreshing to hear what you have to say.

  14. Oh how difficult it is to recall Gods’s promise when we don’t arrive at “our” expected end. In those moments, I press into the cross all the more for the added strength needed to stay the lengthened course. Be strong in the Lord, never give up hope. If the Lord is pleased, He will bring us safely to the land He promised. Trust Him!

  15. Thank You Wendy. I surely appreciate you being a part of my life on a daily blessings. I have been a apart of your teachings for years and I must say I am never disappointed. God continues to increase me through each and every teaching and lesson you provide. Your labor of love for us is definitely not in vain. As for me, I think I have reacted in every you listed with what do I do then. I have found through each and every reaction that God remained faithful to me in showing me who he was. Especially during my rebellious times. Even though out of some of those moments I got just what I asked for and the consequences to go with them. He still brought me through those tough consequences and I often see the blessings that were still able to come out of those situations. In some situations God went beyond my expectations. I am still learning how to handle my Israelite moments and fight the urges to back to Egypt. The what do I do then or shall I say now is a new experience every time. Thank You again. I am a little behind but I am hanging in there, taking my time for heart knowledge and produce change within me instead of keeping up with the time.

  16. Something Old
    Numbers 14:17. It is never wrong to pray back to God His holy promises. I love the power in this one verse….”Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed it to be….”. I also love the KJV, “And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my lord be great, according as thou hast spoken…..”

    Something New
    The 40 years in the wilderness was a year for each of the 40 days the spies explored the land. I’ve read this numerous times, but only this time truly noticed it. It made me think about how time is irrelevant to God because He transcends it, but He knows it matters to man….there was a deliberateness to his discipline that surely must have impacted the Israelites.

    Something To Do
    Numbers 14:41. Don’t be foolhardy and make matters worse. Once I disobey God, I must not compound the problem and dig my hole deeper by trying to undo the damage in my own strength. Rather, ACCEPT His correction and move on.

  17. My Takeaways: They contine to complain, God is angered, Moses begs for a pardon, Caleb comes through again, offerings are given.

    Something Old: God does not allow anyone over the age of 20 to enter the promised land. They will wander for 40 years-a year for each day the spies, spied the land.

    Something New: Numbers 14:24 “But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.” Caleb followed God with all his heart and was rewarded for it. Caleb was a man that showed great faith in God! He held his grounds even when the majority was against him. God’s truths never change even when the majority does. Caleb knew this, he continued to believe what God had told them. With God he knew what looked impossible would be possible. He had God on his side. He didn’t need anything else.

    Something To Do? Do I show faith in God’s promises in spite of apparent obstacles? Do I measure right from wrong based on what my friends say or what is most popular, or do I remember what God says? The Bible is my road map for life. I must stay in the word and live by its truths. As I study the Bible it draws me nearer to God, giving me a personal relationship with him. The same God who was with Caleb and allowed him to be bold is the same God that has given me the gift of eternal life through his son Jesus. I must never forget that. In order for my courage and faith to be effective I must always remember that it takes words and actions for me to live a life pleasing to God. Will I always be a Caleb and put my faith into action and believe what God promises?

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