Numbers 20:5 and why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to bring us in unto this evil place? no place of seed, and fig, and vine, and pomegranate; and water there is none to drink. I think it’s a little crazy how often the Israelites forget why they’re wandering in the wilderness. Okay, maybe crazy, but I do the same thing. Here the Israelites blame Moses and Aaron for making them wander around in “this evil place.” Funny, they also led them to the Promised Land, but the Israelites refused to enter… How often does God bring me to a place or opportunity that He has for me, but I refuse to go in out of fear or uncertainty? Or I am continually disobedient in an area and require some training… which may involve walking through a dark valley. I have a tendency to blame God and ask why He makes me go through this kind of thing. I forget my role in everything – that I asked to be more like Him or that I chose disobedience, or that I didn’t want to enter a situation that seemed too big for me… Also, it may seem the wilderness has nothing to sustain me, but that’s not necessarily true. I may not be able to find or provide sustenance, but it’s not about me – God can provide in any way that He wants, even miraculous ways. I don’t walk the wilderness alone. I don’t provide for myself. God is there in the silence and the emptiness. The very quiet of the desert and the lack of my own provision is the opportunity to hear God and to allow Him to provide for me. I am totally dependent on Him and He has another chance to show me (again) how incredible He is.
Habukuk 2:20 But the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. People are loud. We talk and think out loud. We yell and cheer. I have a hard time being still and silent. No, I’m not ADD or ADHD or anything like that… but even when I’m still, my mind is going a mile a minute. But God is supposed to inspire awe, and in that awe we are silent before Him. The only time in my life that I can really say that awe of God inspired silence for me was when God met me in my living room a while back. I could literally feel the arms of God wrap around me and hold me. I was speechless then. I was overwhelmed. I was silent. Part of me wishes I felt that more often, but probably because of my business and the chaos of my life, I miss it or just don’t take the time to really dig in. That time was unique. That was God coming close to me when I really needed Him. That doesn’t happen everyday (not in that way). If did, I’d never get anything done. But I wish I could cultivate more silence in my life so I could spend a little more time in awe of my loving Creator. Of course, I’d have to choose to spend that time with Him and not messing around with other things… There’s the rub.