Remember What God Has Done
Scripture Passage: Deuteronomy 1:26-33 (NASB)
26 “Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; 27 and you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32 But for all this, you did not trust the Lord your God, 33 who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.
SUMMARY
After the Israelites heard about the spies report on the land of Canaan, they were hesitant to go. Moses was disappointed in the Israelites and told them that they didn’t trust the Lord and were disobedient. The Israelites were reminded that God was the one who freed them from Egypt to go to the promised land, but the Israelites still complained saying that God hated them. Moses reminded the Israelites what God had done for them, but still, the Israelites did not have faith in God.
MEDITATION & REFLECTION
The Israelites easily forgot what God had done for them and were disappointed in God. The Israelites remind me of myself sometimes. God would bless me and everything would be going well, but when I experience a difficult situation I would start to get angry at God for putting me in that situation. This passage shows me to remind myself of how God has blessed me whenever I am going through a tribulation. Also, when things are going well, I sometimes pay less attention to God. This passage reminds me that it is easy to forget what God has done for me because I am so focused on myself most of the time. I need to stay humble and remember God’s grace for me.
Lately I have been watching a lot of news of protests, anger and violence that is happening around the world. It breaks my heart to see all the businesses that were destroyed during this time of protest but I trust God that love will eventually overcome the evil. I also realized how much this world needs God. I feel like everyone causing havoc are not evil but are lost in this world. I am looking at the looters and the people vandalizing property during the protests and realize that the Holy Spirit is not in their hearts. It reminds me of the verse, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you” (John 14:16–17). I just hope that the world comes to know who Jesus is and will see Jesus as their model to follow.
The news to me are like the spies telling the Israelites about Caanan, but I know that there is so much love in this world and that the majority of the protesters are peaceful and are protesting for the right reasons. I trust that love will overcome the evil in this world.
APPLICATION
Currently I just want to focus on praising and trusting God every day. Every time I pray I will praise God more and also whenever I feel angry at God, I have to remember that His plans for me is always good because God has carried me through the wilderness just like how God carried the Israelites out of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 1:31 resonates with me. It says, “And in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.” I know God has taken me out of the wilderness many times and I need to reflect on those times to remind me of how God’s plans were always good.
PRAYER
I pray that during these difficult times of violence, looting, and hate, I will trust God and know that there is still so much more love in this world that I have not seen. I see videos of people helping others and I pray that our Heavenly Father would use us, Christians, around the world to spread the love that God has shown us. I pray that we can all be witnesses of God and shine the light to those in darkness. I pray that all the people who are doing hateful acts and crimes will one day repent and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
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