God wants—desires for us to see Him everything—“Calling nothing small if it bears us His message”. (Streams in the Desert, July 24)
· Sometimes we overlook the obvious…looking for some grand display or show—something out of the ordinary.
· And there are times God does that—but if we refuse to find Him in the ordinary—We will miss the grandest blessing of all. (You may be tempted to quit reading, just because you glanced down and saw–gee-whiz–she typed a DOOZY of a blog here–please keep reading…it might be the one for you today)
Psalms 106:7-15 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.
· Sometimes we read verses like Psalms 106:1 “Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
…and think God is just all “mercy”…that He will wink at and overlook our lusting flesh—our sinful desires—our carnal nature…
Let me share with you for just a few minutes the facts from my perspective:
1) We don’t have the mind capacity to think anywhere near what God might be thinking; Isaiah 41:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
· We read in verses 12-13 how the Israelites believed only “after they saw”…
§ Don’t you know that after all God had already done in Egypt—with the plagues … you would have thought—they would believe God for anything!
§ But no—at the first mud puddle, they are in a complete state of pandemonium! (I’m not tossing stones at them…)
“Oh, he’s brought us here to kill us! We’ll drown!” All they could see was what was in front of them!
§ Yes, I know it was the Red Sea…but to God—it was a mere mud puddle! They were so occupied with the outward—they couldn’t even fathom God blowing the waters aside!
Sometimes we can’t imagine how or what God might do when we come face to face with our own Red Sea—but don’t start overlooking the obvious…and being occupied with the outward—Just be honest with God: “God, I don’t know what this looks like from your position—but from mine—it appears to be an impasse.”
· Unreachable.
· Insurmountable.
· Unachievable –but follow that up with a statement of FAITH…
“BUT GOD—Your Word states: NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE! BE GLORIFIED IN THIS!”
o Don’t shrink back…but praise and step out!
o God still wants people willing to cross the sea…
§ Sometimes He’ll provide a boat
§ Sometimes He may build a bridge
§ Sometimes He may say “walk out in faith…Because HE IS ABOUT TO PART THE WATERS!!
Oswald Chambers wrote: “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading…It is a life of faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who makes us “go”…The root of faith is the knowledge of a person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success”….(read that again)
Lest we think God’s planning on making us the “next great” whatever–remember, it may not be the corner office with all the perks that He is leading you to…it may not be the pulpit with the congregation of 2,000…it may be the janitorial closet…or the congregation of 25…
Success in God’s eyes is not the same is ours…HE is looking out for the welfare of the heart…not our pocketbook–(and yes, I know HE will provide all our needs–according to His riches in glory–but your heart –MY HEART is a big concern to Him–and it is OUR GREATEST NEED.)
o Your faith will grow as your prayer life increases…and your prayer life will increase when you encounter obstacles that test your faith…The Israelites faces obstacles—they made choices…
you and I have the same choices today to make:
A. Praise; or
B. Complain
o Faith is an easy word to say…but what happens when something comes to our lives that requires us to “use” our faith?
o Prayer is something warm and fuzzy to “think about”…doing it, however, we find that the matters of life always tend to usurp their authority and place in our minds and lives…
o Bottom line…prayer and faith has to be a determination of the heart and life of the individual. It is many times a battle.
2) The tolerance of the LORD is running out…we are too occupied with our outward!
§ The faith of the Israelites was contingent on what they saw, not on their trust in the INVISIBLE…
§ They had unreasonable desires for food…in the wilderness—they craved meat—they craved flesh…NOT GOD.
Romans 8:5-8 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
- They tested God—God gave them what they asked for:
The amplified version of verse 15 says: And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.
Other translations state: plague; terrible disease; wasting disease.
The Message stated, “empty heart”.
(Read also Numbers 11:33–we find that as they were still chewing the “lusted for meat”–they became stricken with the disease–they got more than they bargained for–because they were not satisfied with what God was supplying for them. They could have killed their own livestock and supplied meat for themselves, but they had begun to like the idea of being waited on hand and foot as God was supplying “manna” from heaven…they wanted Him to supply “MEAT”…eating meat was not the sin…having a cavernous appetite for something other than God was the sin…their sin lay in their belly.)
- They didn’t believe until they “saw”…
God is looking for a people who will believe when things look the opposite…
Jesus said to Thomas after needing “proof” that it was indeed the Lord… “Thomas, because thou has seen me, thou has believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”… (John 20:29)
· God wants us to be so in love with Him—so desirous of Him—time with Him—to hear Him—to know Him—that we are occupied with Him continually…that the outward fades—and the inner grows.
For inner growth—that can have peace in a storm, vision in the blinding rain, it will come only from seeking Him—if we want changes in our life—and growth—we MUST cease being overly occupied with the things of the outward—and seek Him with all of our hearts.
© Angie Knight- The Knightly News
Jeff & Angie 
“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading…”…love this one!
Powerful lesson here, Angie…my prayer is for the “outward to fade, and the inner to grow”…I Know Whom I believe….