2009 - Day 60.Mar.2 - Also a Major In Discomfort

2009 – Day 60.Mar. 2 – Also a Major in Discomfort

Passage of the Day: Exodus 3: 1 … Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Acts 7: 29 – 30 … 29 Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. 30 And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.

My Journal for Today: Not only did Moses, in his coursework for Godly improvement in the wilderness of Sinai, major in obscurity (see yesterday’s journal entry), this former Prince of Egypt who had become a lowly shepherd of Midian, had a parallel major in discomfort. He went from the comforts of palace, to live the hot sands of the wilderness; and he took that course in discomfort for 40 long years before God appeared to His student to present him with God’s diploma. It was to be Moses’ graduation and commencement to the status of the redeemed.

But there was another, the greatest servant of the faith, … Jesus, Who was also subjected to a course in discomfort in the wilderness; and we read about that in the early portions of both Matthew 4 or Luke 4. No, it wasn’t 40 years, … it was 40 long, days and nights of fasting in the Negev. And in this encounter, Jesus, like Moses passed with flying colors … going on to redeem God’s people, … Moses for a season with God’s chosen people, … Jesus forever and for all mankind.

But what do we glean from these stories of trial and testing? We learn that, like God, the Father did with His Son, and The Lord did with Moses, our God will never leave us nor forsake us (see Hebrews 13: 5). We learn, as Swindoll so eloquently teaches in today’s devotional, God sandpapers away the resistant layers of our pride with obscurity and humility. God wears away our fears with time doing life obediently, … His way. And He rips away the walls of resentment or bitterness with solitude and our willingness to be forgiven by God and to learn to forgive others.

In the wilderness years, we learn from the courses of discomfort in our lives, which prepare us, with God’s grace, to move on, commencing to take on God’s kingdom plan for our life. I love what Swindoll writes on this, … “Reach for the hand of your Guide. He is the Lord of the desert. Make that YOUR desert. The most precious object of God’s love is His child in the desert. If it is possible, you mean more to Him during this time than any other time. You are the pupil of His eye. You are His beloved student taking His toughest courses. While testing you, He loves you with an intimate amount of love.”

Man, that’s good stuff! But when we’re going through the wilderness and the boring life of discomfort, it’s so easy to fall prey to an enemy who would want us to believe that God has turned His back on us and set us adrift … on our own. But being turned over to our own hearts will only occur when we are disobedient and faithless, believing Satan’s lies rather than God’s truths. That’s why God told Joshua in his wilderness trials when Moses died (see Joshua 1: 8) to stay in God’s word and believe all that is written in it.

We simply must not get deterred or discouraged by discomfort in our lives. It’s there for our good (once again, the truth of Romans 8: 28); and when we pass that course, God will have us ready for a life lived for His glory.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to pass your tests of discomfort so that I can serve you more powerfully. Amen