Lately, I have really felt a kinship with the Israelites in Exodus marching across the desert.  I, in certain moments, can sympathize with their plight, feeling as if they were wandering in circles never really making any progress.  Life was difficult for them, to say the least.  They were hungry and thirsty.  They began to doubt their leader and question if he really knew what he was doing when he led them out of Egypt.  They were quick to forget the miraculous signs and wonders they had seen in Egypt and at times even romanticized their time in captivity.  When we are in the middle of a desert it can be really hard to see the hand of God.

While it has not been nearly forty years, our family has been marching through a very difficult season, our own desert you might say.  At times, we feel like we take 2 steps forward just to take a GIANT step back (and we are lucky if it is only ONE step back.)  I am not going to lie, sometimes we get tired and thirsty and we can be tempted to doubt our leader.  It is those moments though that we are fortunate enough to have the ability to look back at the Israelites time in the desert and see the glorious provision and mercy God displayed to them time and time again.  Maybe you will find it to be encouraging as well.

First, the Israelites were in the desert because they had been delivered from captivity and they were marching towards their promise land.  Now, you may be scratching you head at this one and thinking to yourself that your present desert is in no way happening as a result of deliverance.  I know……. I feel this way too at times.  When the Israelites romanticized the foods that they were able to feast on in Egypt they longed to be back in the same captivity that they had previously cried out to God to deliver them from.  They could not comprehend the promise land that they were marching towards.  I look back to four years ago or even five before our journey ever commenced and ask what could we possibly have been delivered from?  We may never have the answer this side of heaven.  But I hold on to the promise that God works all things together for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28) so I know that his plan is perfect and we ARE marching towards something better.

Secondly, God provided manna (bread from heaven) every single day.  Each day they would wake up and there would be bread from heaven right outside their tent.  The Israelites would gather only what they needed for each day, they did not need to worry about tomorrow.  When we are in a desert it can be really really tempting to let the enormity of our situation weigh us down with fear about how we are ever going to survive.  Let’s not do that.  Let’s just worry about today.  What do you have to do today?  When I started looking at things from this prospective I instantly felt a confidence and freedom I had not experienced before.  Today I have to get up, go to physical therapy, run to the post office, make dinner and etc.  God gives us the strength to get through each day, we just have to step outside of our tent and collect the manna!

Third, though they wandered for forty long, tiring years their clothing and sandals never wore out. Deuteronomy 29:5 “Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.”  God has a miraculous way of providing for our needs.  Looking back on some of the darkest and hardest times over the last couple of years he consistently met our needs.  He provided prayer warriors to walk beside us, meals when we were too overwhelmed to cook, and we never ever wore out.  We were tired but we NEVER wore out.

Lastly, and most importantly, the Israelites NEVER walked alone! And neither do you!  Exodus 13:21-22 “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.”  Friends, the desert would be unbearable without the presence of our God.  If there is anything I would not survive the desert without it would be this.  If you are walking this desert alone, I encourage you to seek Jesus!!!  There is no night too dark to see that fiery pillar!

Hindsight is always 20/20.  We have the what the Israelites did not have when they were marching, a record of their deliverance.  Friends, God is the same God today that he was then.  We are God’s chosen people and he is every bit as active in your desert as he was in theirs.  I am not saying that it is going to be easy, it is definitely NOT easy!  But I would encourage you to keep marching.  Step outside your tent, gather the manna, follow the pillar of fire even in the darkest of nights and keep marching.  Your promise land is waiting and it will be so much better than whatever you are in need of deliverance from.