November 16th, 2005
Yo-Yo
Exo 15:18-27 Let GOD rule forever, for eternity! Yes, Pharaoh's horses and chariots and riders went into the sea and GOD turned the waters back on them; but the Israelites walked on dry land right through the middle of the sea. Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine, and all the women followed her with tambourines, dancing. Miriam led them in singing, Sing to GOD-- what a victory! He pitched horse and rider into the sea! Moses led Israel from the Red Sea on to the Wilderness of Shur. They traveled for three days through the wilderness without finding any water. They got to Marah, but they couldn't drink the water at Marah; it was bitter. That's why they called the place Marah (Bitter). And the people complained to Moses, "So what are we supposed to drink?" So Moses cried out in prayer to GOD. GOD pointed him to a stick of wood. Moses threw it into the water and the water turned sweet. That's the place where GOD set up rules and procedures; that's where he started testing them. GOD said, "If you listen, listen obediently to how GOD tells you to live in his presence, obeying his commandments and keeping all his laws, then I won't strike you with all the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians; I am GOD your healer." They came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They set up camp there by the water.
We can be just like a yo-yo, up and then down, and up and then down, praising God one moment complaining to Him the next. God provides miracalously, and the next time we have a need we forget all about what He has done, and complain or whine about what we presently don't have. God may change our circumstances but that does not change our heart. So just because things around us may have changed for the better does not mean that everything is going to be smooth.
God cares more than anything about our heart, He wants us to have a heart like His, so we can reflect who He really is. So God will allow situations to arise to bring to the surface the condition of our heart, so we can learn to trust Him more. A solid relationship is built on trust, and until we can fully trust God our relationship can only go so far. You can't trust someone that does not trust you to do much of anything. Meaning God cannot take us any closer to our destiny if we are not willing to trust Him in what He is dealing with in our life. The first generation of the children of Israel never really grew in their abilitiy to trust God, whenever God tested them, instead of believing Him and trusting in Him to meet their needs, they complained, murmured, rebelled. So when they had the opportunity to enter into the place God had destined for them, they were full of fear and doubt, and chose not to enter in, and therefore spent the rest of their days wandering in circles.
The majority of adults around us are not happy, they are discontent, uptight, some pretending to be alright but those who know them, know better. Man was created for a purpose and unless we are living out that purpose we will never find lasting peace. Our purpose is way bigger than oursleves and unless we trust God it is impossible to fulfill. Many try to fulfill it without God, and end up committing suicide, addicted to abusive substances, etc. because again what God has for us is bigger than us, it requires Him, for He made us for relationship, and without Him it is impossible.
A teacher tests there students on what they have learned to see if they are ready to move forward to the next subject. Until we pass the tests of life we are stuck where we are at. Those who usually do well in tests, are those who adequently study. Likewise, only those that spend adequent time with God are able to trust Him enough to pass the tests of everyday life. For Trust to be developed, for one to understand anothers heart, and to know their ways, it takes time. The children of Israel left Moses, Aaron, and the priests to be the ones who really sought God, they just listened to what God told them. One can never trust another person through someone else. We can never trust God more unless we know Him for ourselves. Many still today entrust spiritual leaders to be the ones that tells them about God or prays to God for them, etc. There are no spiritual leaders in the eyes of God we are all equal, we have different roles but we are all members of the same body, and until we can trust God for ourselves we will never function like we were created to be.
2Co 13:5-8 Examine yourselves to see whether you are still in the Christian faith. Test yourselves! Don't you recognize that you are people in whom Jesus Christ lives? Could it be that you're failing the test? I hope that you will realize that we haven't failed the test. We pray to God that you won't do anything wrong. It's not that we want to prove that we've passed the test. Rather, we want you to do whatever is right, even if we seem to have failed. We can't do anything against the truth but only to help the truth.
Let's test ourselves, do we really trust God? Are we going in circles? Are dealing with the same problem over and over again, and never moving on? God wants us to be clothed in His righteousness, to do what is right, to prove to the world that we are lovers of God. The bible says if we really love God we will obey His commandments, we obey someone when we trust them, and trust is the heart beat of love. The ultimate question to ask ourselves is do we really love God?