Success in Relationships (Part II)

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So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.  Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:15-20 (NLV)

Did you know that your thought life is a key to success in relationships!? The above scripture instructs us to be intentional and thoughtful! Thoughtless people speak before they think! Have you ever written a text or an email, and before you clicked the “send” button something told you to stop!? Later on, when you looked back you realized you could have made a big mess with your tone or choice of words if you had sent the text or the email in its original tone.

When we are thoughtful, it makes us slow down and think about what we say and how we state it. When I am corresponding with prospective employers, I don’t just type something quickly and send it out. I write it, wait a while, and then edit it. If time permits, I may leave it alone for a few hours or overnight. I review it again and ensure that it is written concisely and covers everything that I intended to state. Are we as thoughtful with our words when we are communicating with our loved ones!?

As believers, our holy occupation is to please Him! That means that regardless of how we feel or what we think of a person or a situation, we are called to walk in the spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the self-control we need to slow down and to allow Him to calm our thoughts and emotions.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 2Corinthians 10:4-6

Some people claim that to be real they need to share all their thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, being real has been equated with dumping all the negative thoughts and emotions on others! To the contrary, the Lord calls us to be intentional with our thoughts and recognize the schemes of the enemy. When we surrender ourselves to “being real,” we come into agreement with the lies of the enemy and own those thoughts as ours. Hence, we look for ways to express them. However, we must recognize that not every thought that comes to mind should be welcomed or accepted as our thought. More importantly, not every thought that comes to our mind lines up with God’s truth!

The Bible tells us that we need to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We cannot successfully walk in obedience to the Lord, if we don’t take control of our thought life! We also cannot have success in our relationships if we can’t control our thoughts and the actions that produce them. Our thoughts dictate our emotions which lead our will into action. Subsequently we speak and act on what we entertained in our thought life first. This impacts all our relationships! We may react inappropriately to a person or a situation because we have been incubating negativity in our minds and have not challenged and acknowledged them as lies or ungodly thoughts!

Today, make a plan to examine and challenge your thoughts before allowing them to take root in your heart! Hold every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and allow Jesus to be the gatekeeper of your mind! You will save yourself and others much headache and heartache, and you’ll have much success in your relationships!

 

Success In Relationships (Part I)

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One of the main areas of challenge in people’s lives is getting along with their loved ones. Interestingly, Jesus had only two major commandments and one of them was to love our neighbor as ourselves! So how do we successfully handle our relationships?

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.  Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:15-20 (NLV)

The above passage comes just before the exhortation to the married couples in (Ephesians 5: 22-33)  explaining the roles and responsibilities of a husband and wife in a Godly marriage. This passage describes that wife needs to submit to her husband and her husband needs to love her as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. Since marriage is the most important earthly relationship and the closest neighbor that one may have,  we can apply the above scriptures (Ephesians 5:15-20) as a launching point to healthy and successful relationships including our marriages.

Live Wisely

According to the above scriptures, the first thing that we need to pay attention to is to live wisely in an evil age. The truth is that most of the time we don’t live life as if the days are evil! We generally get up in the morning and we are after accomplishing our own goals and agenda for the day. We’re doing just fine as long as the day goes as we expect it and things are going our way. However, if someone blocks us or tries to derail us from our goals,  that’s when we get angry and may lash out!

The truth is whether things are going our way or not, the enemy is still prowling around like a roaring lion looking to see who he can devour (1Peter 5:8). How does the enemy devour? By causing us to be tempted to get angry and to speak harsh and destructive words because we didn’t get our way! He influences us when we  take on his nature and devour others by our attitude or words because they blocked us from our goals! We need to remain alert and recognize that the enemy is after stealing, killing, and destroying relationships and marriages all the time. He is looking for people to come into agreement with his lies.  He knows the true evidence of our love for God is how we love others! If he can make us fail in that area, then he can show the world that our relationship with Christ has not changed us and we still behave as we used to.

The other aspect of being wise with our time is that we need to keep some buffer in our schedule during any given day. This gives room for the unexpected and allows us not to run through the day frantically trying to squeeze too much in any given day. The more overcommitted we are, the greater the stress level! That’s when a little mishap by our children, a few unwashed dishes in the sink,  or a bit of delay by a friend can send us through the roof! If things don’t go the way we expected, most likely, we are going to take out our stress on our loved ones and they are the victim of our overcommitments! Seemingly, they are blocking our goals while all along they were only living their lives- just not at our desired pace!

As you begin this week, plan to be intentional with your time and be cognizant of the enemy’s schemes. In addition, plan not to overcommit your time and see how more peaceful your relationships become!

 

 

As Iron Sharpens Iron (Part III)

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We live in such a disposable culture that we have no problem moving on from people and things easily.  We acquire cell phones, expensive cars, or modern appliances, but we can easily toss them away for a better version. Furthermore, our relationships are not what they used to be. We measure our connectedness by the number of friends, followers, and likes we have on social media. These trends create a shallow existence where we don’t have to get too involved with others, and we can presumably coast through life without the pain of working on relationships. However, the very thing that many of us avoid, which is truthful and loving relationships, is what gives us the opportunity to grow, to belong, and to become better.

We are designed to help each other grow and become sharper. Just as a knife is meant to be sharp or has no good use, so are we meant to be sharpened to be useful for the Kingdom. I sharpen my knives at home from time to time. When I sharpen them, I use a metal rod and slide my knife against it until they are sharper. The sounds made in the process of two pieces of metal rubbing against each other is an unpleasant and screeching sound which is not fun to listen to. The purpose is for my knives to be sharp, so they can function for the purpose they were designed. If I can’t sharpen them, pretty soon I would have to get rid of them because they are not doing what I bought them for. Similarly, we are meant to be sharpened by one another. We are not meant to live a comfortable and dull life by merely co-existing with one another! Growth requires us to remain engaged with others and work at relationships. The sharpening process will cause us to holler or cry at times, but in the end it will be worth it!

Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. Proverbs 27:6

One of the cultural trends nowadays is that people are very sensitive to being judged by others. Unfortunately, that trend is also true in the body of Christ, so anytime anyone tells us anything that is contrary to what we like to hear, we feel judged! Rather than being offended or hurt by others, we should allow the Lord to examine our lives and be quiet before Him. This gives room for the Holy Spirit to show us our rough edges and soften us, so we can grow stronger in our relationship with the Lord and with others. I would rather have friends who talk to me truthfully about my flaws rather than having many people flattering me with nice words but not addressing any issues in my life.

If we are willing to be open to the sharpening of others, we will find greater satisfaction in life. Our true friends can also help us with our blindspots. Sometimes, the Lord puts people in our lives who are like us to show us the weak areas, and at other times, he places people opposite of us on our path to stretch us out of our comfort zone!

Are you committed to your relationships even when they make you uncomfortable? Do you see the value in those relationships that tell you the truth even when it hurts? If we want to be sharpened by God, we can’t just attend Bible studies or church services; we also need to role up our sleeves and get involved in relationships. When we tend our relationships, remain committed to the people the Lord has placed in our lives, and allow them to sharpen us as we sharpen them, the end result will be more Christlikeness and God is glorified!

 

As Iron Sharpens Iron… (Part II)

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As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17

I shared in the last devotional the importance of appreciating our relationships and their ability to sharpen us in our walk with God. The truth is that being sharpened by another person can be hard and painful at times, and we can be tempted to get out of the relationship to ease the pain or the frustration.

Proverbs 17:17 brings a balance to Proverbs 27:17 as it relates to the quality of our friendships. When we have committed relationships and friends who love us at all times, then we have a safe place to be changed. God’s transformation process is not easy, and sometimes it’s painful and long! However, when we have committed people in our lives, we don’t have to pretend that we have it all together. We don’t have to defend our position or try to win the argument. We recognize that our differences can be a blessing in pushing us to consider another viewpoint and to become open to God on how we wants to change us.

Imagine the potential for growth when we are willing to work on issues with our loved ones without allowing the conflict to separate or divide us! What if instead of judging each other, we listened to each others’ heart!? What if we respected their preference and allowed God to remove our carnal prejudices and hang ups!? How about if we allowed God to use them to speak truth to those broken places in our lives, so we can grow powerfully! All those possibilities, would allow us to sharpen each other without being angry or feel less because someone has pointed out a flaw in our lives.

It’s interesting that when you sign up to join the military or the police force, you sign up to go through several grueling months of training where people are not going to be kind or gentle with you. Instead, they will yell at you and tell you that you are not good enough to make it, but most people are willing to put up with it for the end goal or outcome. How more so should we be willing to endure the sharpening of our friends, family members, and brothers and sisters in Christ knowing that the end goal is to be more Christlike!?

 

As Iron Sharpens Iron…(Part I)

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Having good relationships in life is truly a blessing, but it seems like finding the right relationships is challenging! We may find a person fun to be around for a couple of months. However, sooner or later, something they do makes us irritated and we don’t enjoy them like we used to. Just a note of caution this devotional is not about those who are physically or emotionally abuse to others. If you are in that kind of situation, please seek help.

As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17

The truth is that most people that we are attracted to are going to be different than us. Therefore, they will eventually rub us the wrong the way! Generally, we are attracted to those who have common values but a different personality from us. If you are a quiet or a shy person, you will probably gravitate towards an outgoing and bold person. If you are an aggressive person you may gravitate towards a more easy-going or passive person. This is also true in marriages.

While the differences can be a strength, many times, we are annoyed with those who operate differently. The above scripture reminds us that there is a purpose for the people that God has placed in our lives. We all have sharp edges or issues that can cause pain and frustration in others’ lives. Our  human tendency is to stay away from those kinds of people and not deal with them. However, we should appreciate and value those relationships. We need them and they need us! As the Lord directs us, we should stay in relationship with these individuals and be willing to do the hard work of mutual sharpening!

Having conflict and misunderstandings with others is part of human nature. The key is to understand the value of those conflicts in shaping us to become softer, gentler, and more patient with people. We don’t have to run away from those who cause us discomfort but be thankful that the Lord uses the person to grow us and mature us. In addition, we tend to hear God selectively based on the area of our strength, and friends who are different from us can help us in that area. For example, if you are an aggressive person, you may tend to think that being bold and forthright is always the right approach. However, if you have a friend or a spouse who is quiet, they may question your approach and help you to slow down before acting out of habit. This process helps us in hearing God differently and become more a balanced Christian!

Do you have people in your life who irritate you or cause you discomfort? What is about them that bothers you? Do you judge them for not being like you? Do you feel judged by them? If both parties have the capacity for a truthful conversation, it could open the door for honesty and vulnerability in the relationship. When we take away the barriers of carnality, we have the potential to to communicate about our differences with humility, strengthen the relationship, and to allow those differences to sharpen each other!

 

The Wilderness Experience (Part VI)

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In the last few devotionals, I shared about the life of Moses, Joseph, and Jesus and their wilderness experiences. In each of their lives, their wilderness journey had a different purpose.

In the case of Moses, the Lord had to break Moses’ pride and natural strength and to teach him to rely on Him fully. Moses experienced his own wilderness before he could lead the Israelites through their wilderness for forty years! He was being prepared to represent the Lord before Gods’ people, and he had to be shaped through humility, consistency, and perseverance in the wilderness.

As for Joseph’s life, although he was loved dearly by his natural father, Jacob’s love was not enough to fulfill God’s plan for his life! Joseph learned to lean into the Lord when he was all alone, and he had no earthly love to draw upon.  It was during this time that God gave him more than a dream but gave him interpretation to others’ dreams that opened the door to his destiny!

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. Luke 4:13-14

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15

Jesus did not go into the wilderness because he had any sins or weaknesses in His life.  Instead, the fasting and the wilderness experience allowed Him to come out full of power for what he was going to experience for the next three years of His life! He was being prepared for what was coming ahead as He was going to suffer on the cross for the sins of the world! He was also tempted in the wilderness in order to identify with our frailty and to be fully qualified as the High priest to intercede on our behalf  before the Father. He remained strong and courageous when all the powers of hell broke lose against Him. He resisted every temptation and allowed the Lord to do His perfect will through His life!

What is beautiful and amazing about the stories of Moses, Joseph, and Jesus is that they were all gracious and forgiving towards those who mistreated them and falsely accused them! The wilderness had taught them to give up their rights to their own plans and to have a resolve for God’s will! They were willing to be the vessel that God wanted them to be in order to be used for the benefit of others! In the case of Jesus, His forgiveness opened the door for the entire humanity to have a chance to be saved from hell and darkness! The Bible shows us that many of God’s people experienced wilderness in their lives, and the Lord used the wilderness for His own purpose and for the benefit of His people.

If we are truly honest with ourselves thriving in the wilderness is a tough process! Many yearn to change the world but struggle greatly to allow the flesh to fully die in the wilderness! Why is wilderness so distasteful to most of us? Because there is nothing there to keep us busy or distracted. It’s boring! It feels like it will never end. We can’t set goals or make any progress. We are not in control! We don’t know what to do with ourselves, and we get fidgety looking around to get our hands busy with something. Our main focus becomes how to get out of the wilderness!

The wilderness experience is supposed to shape us for God’s glory and purpose! However, it is also full of temptations! Hence, it requires our attention, courage, and patience to be able to successfully persevere through it until such a time that the Lord gets us out of it! We don’t know how the Lord is going to do it, but we know that He is faithful and He will do it in time as we cooperate with Him!

 

 

The Wilderness Experience (Part V)

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Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,  being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. Luke 4:1-14

Jesus’ extraordinary baptism experience did not stop Him from being led into the wilderness! He was confirmed by His Father during baptism, but now He was going to be tempted by the father of lies! Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness in provision, authority, and identity.  First, although He had not eaten for forty days, He knew that the Lord was His provider and sustainer. Second, Jesus was secure about His access to power and authority, and He only wanted what the Lord had for Him in God’s timing! He had no selfish ambitions or He would have taken the bait and tried to take a short cut to gain glory without obedience and the suffering! Third, Jesus was tempted in His sonship! Would the Lord rescue Him if He threw Himself down from the top of the temple!?  Jesus knew God’s character and His love towards Him, but He also knew that God did not want to be tested!

The wilderness provides the same temptations for us. First, would we provide for ourselves and take the matter in our own hands or will we wait on the Lord to do it His way and in His time? Are you waiting on God’s provision in a particular area of your life? Are you wondering if you should try to just make it happen with your ingenuity!?

Second, are we willing to sell out our Godly convictions and values to gain honor and recognition? There is much temptation in the body of Christ to be big for God! It seems like unless we do something that is impressive to others, we don’t think we are significant or are making a difference in the Kingdom. To the contrary, there were many times that Jesus told His disciples not to tell anyone about the miracle that He had just done. Are you tempted to advertise your spiritual feats in order to prove that you are mature, prophetic, anointed, etc!?

Third, do we test the Lord by going outside of the His boundaries and relying on His love to rescue us? Sometimes, we can get so desperate that we just throw off God’s boundaries because we want what we want when we want it! We assume if God loves us so much, He will look the other way and that He is not going to hold against us. We may also rationalize it by thinking that God knows our needs and that He wants us to be happy!

How are you doing in the season of wilderness? Do you see the value of it while you’re in the midst of it? I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

 

The Wilderness Experience (Part IV)

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Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.  And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.  So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Genesis 39:1-6

So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused. Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Genesis 39:19-21

Joseph became a successful man in Egypt and Potiphar allowed him to be the overseer of his entire household. Joseph had earned the trust of his master and was given authority over everything that his master owned. The scripture never tells us that Joseph had selfish ambitions or had some personal agenda that led him to perform well for his master. If it was up to Joseph, most likely, he would have remained in that position for years to come and would have been happy to serve his master.

Joseph’s success at Potiphar’s house could have looked like achieving all that God had for him. However, the story wasn’t over. Although, Joseph had not fully recovered from his last wilderness experience, he was about to enter another one! Potiphar’s wife lied about him and told her husband that Joseph made advances towards her. Joseph was completely innocent, and out of reverence for God, he had rejected the woman’s advances towards him! On the surface, it all seemed unfair, but the Lord had bigger plans for Joseph’s life. He again used the unjust circumstances to allow Joseph to move out of his good position!

When we are thrown into wilderness and are faced with unjust circumstances, sometimes the perpetrators and the loss we experienced becomes the main focus.  Facing unjust circumstances is a tough process to go through, but the longer we hold on to the injustice, the more it will make us miserable and bitter. It will also take longer for the Lord to do His work and make us more like Him! We must find the Lord in the midst of wilderness and continue to follow the true North!

Joseph was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, but that didn’t stop him from being a man of integrity and working hard for the prison guard. How do you handle your disappointments? Do you only work hard when you are getting what you want out of it? Are you only performing well when the boss gives you kudos? Are you able to give your best when you are treated unfairly? Sometimes, we cannot control getting into a wilderness, but we can choose to respond in the manner that brings glory to God and blesses those around us! The Lord knows how to get us out of the wilderness. Our job is to trust Him and allow Him to develop the character of Christ in us in the midst of it.

The Wilderness Experience (Part III)

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But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.  Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. Genesis 37:21-24

So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.  Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. Genesis 37:26-28

Joseph was the favored child of his father Israel, and to show his great love towards him, his father had given him a tunic of many colors.  In addition, Joseph was given big prophetic dreams by the Lord, but they were not appreciated by his brothers when he shared it with them. He was also assigned the unpleasant task of reporting about his brothers to his father when they were out in the field working. All these issues caused jealousy in the heart of Joseph’s brothers, so they came up with a plan to eliminate him! Joseph had no idea that his life was about to change forever.  He was no longer going to rely on his father’s favor or wealth for his wellbeing, and neither could his father protect him from his brothers.

The first thing the brothers did was to strip him of his tunic of many colors before they threw him in the pit in the midst of wilderness. The tunic was a reminder of Joseph’s identity as his father’s favorite. Since the brothers despised their fathers’ affection towards Joseph, they wanted to ensure that they were stripping him of his specialness.  Interestingly, when they lied about Joseph to their father and what had happened to him, they acted as if they were not sure if the bloodstained tunic belonged to Joesph!

The wilderness is the place where our identity will come into question. The enemy knows the believers’ identity, so he attempts to strip it and make believers question their identity. In the case of Joseph, he was his father’s favorite, but the Lord also had big plans for his life! The brothers thought they can thwart Joesph’s future by keeping him at a distance from their natural father. However, God had a bigger plan for Joseph that was not going to be fulfilled by just remaining in his father’s house as his favorite! Joseph had growing up to do, and part of that growing up was for his identity to be established in his relationship to his heavenly Father rather than his earthly father.

There are many Christians who hold on to some of their past as part of their identity. For example, if the parents adored them as a child, they expect to be spoiled in the Kingdom of God. Others had their identity tied to their education or position in the past, and they still want to hold on to that identity to avoid feeling insignificant without it. There are those who had a protector when growing up, and they do not want to lose that special relationship because they feel secure having these individuals around. Hence, they remain in ungodly ties because of what those relationships provide for them. All these types of carnal identities keep us bound to the past. God wants us to be freed from them, so we can grow in full maturity and fruitfulness that He intended for us.

In order for Joseph to come into the position that God had ordained for him, the Lord had to take him out of his familiar surroundings and remove his loving earthly relationships. This would allow him to fully rely on the Lord and to grow in wisdom, favor, and insight. His earthly father was no longer his protector or his provider, but it was the Lord who would guide him and provide for him.

Similarly, some believers enter the wilderness for God’s greater purpose to grow them in His ways and to teach them to depend on the Lord for security and identity. However, some stay there longer than necessary. They argue with God and struggle because they are not willing to embrace the change and allow God to forge their character in unexpected ways that does not make sense to their natural mind.  They keep looking back to what they used to have instead of embracing what God wants to do in their lives now.

How are you responding to your wilderness? Is it causing frustration, anger, and bitterness? Do you feel like a victim of circumstances, family, or friends? Or do you see the Lord using this to grow you and enlarge your capacity? Are you able to remain faithful and peaceful in the midst of your wilderness?

The Wilderness Experience (Part II)

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I shared in the last devotional that Moses’s haste and sin caused him to remain in the wilderness for decades! He became a shepherd for his father-in-law and was out of the public eye for forty years, but ultimately God had a plan for him to shepherd His people out of slavery. Can you imagine how Moses’ interactions with Pharaoh would have looked like if he had not dealt with his temper!?  He could have jeopardized his own life as well as the lives of his Hebrew brothers and sisters because of his impatience and anger. The Lord tempered Moses’ temper, so when he went before Pharaoh, he was a calm man who only desired to represent the Lord! In addition, as a leader, Moses was going to be faced with many oppositions some of which came from his own family!

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.) Numbers 12: 1-3

Miraim and Aaron both were anointed by God to work under the leadership of Moses. However, they began to criticize Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman and felt as anointed as Moses! When we read further in Numbers chapter 12, two points stand out about Moses:

First, Moses did not defend himself before Miriam and Aaron. He had become a humble man, and his focus was to honor God. He had no need to explain, defend, or fight for his position. He did not use his authority as a leader to lash out at his brother and sister. Instead, he allowed God to fight his battle.

Second, Moses interceded for his sister when the Lord struck Miriam with leprosy. Moses had no ill will towards her or his brother for questioning his authority. Instead, he had a heart of love and compassion for them.

Many people hope for leadership positions in their lives, but they are overconfident about their abilities in times of pressure! Moses was a learned and skilled man, but it took forty years of wilderness for him to let go of his pride. He shepherded his father-in-law’s sheep for years before he was able to respond in humility to opposition. The truth is that this was just the beginning of many challenges and trials that Moses had to endure to lead the people of God!

Most of us like the call of God in our lives because it makes us feel significant and important in the Kingdom. However, we truly do not understand the weight of the call! Do we handle the criticism of our brothers and sisters as well as Moses did? Moses had to be processed and its fruit was patience with his family and with God’s people as they remained in the desert for forty years. Leadership requires humility, patience and compassion because God wants us to represent Him when we are leading.

Have you been in the wilderness for quite sometime? Has it been a humbling process for you? Does it feel like you are wasting good years being stuck in the desert? Praise God that nothing is wasted in the Lord’s  hands! He knows what He is doing. Continue to surrender to God’s process even when it doesn’t make sense. Allow Him to remove the self-confidence that led you to the wilderness in the first place. He knows how to replace it with meekness and allow you to shine brightly in due season.