To put things in context, Moses is continuing with his words of wisdom to prepare the people of Israel for their upcoming entry into the promised land. Almost like a "vaccination" against self-congratulatory pride, he tells them that God will give them possession of the land not because of their own goodness, but because of the Canaanite tribes' wickedness. To reinforce this, he reminds them of their own wickedness and rebellion along the way, including the episode with the golden calf, and how he, Moses, had prayed to God to have mercy on them.
The sidebar in my Bible speaks of how disorienting it is "when God seems to be going against the calling or guidance He has already given to you" - like asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, or telling Moses that He was going to destroy the people for their rebellion.
Of course, neither of those unthinkable things actually happened, but the big question is: How do we respond to such intense times of testing and seeming contradiction? Do we "walk away" or do we hang on to what God has previously said?
The author of the sidebar writes, "These situations call for resolute obedience, unbridled faith and a commitment to the promises and purposes already revealed." But those who don't walk away from such moments of testing "are drawn higher into God's purposes and plans."
I can relate to the dilemma that this sidebar alludes to. As I wrote yesterday, I believe that God wants me to continue to live and work in Spain, yet He doesn't seem to be opening the door for me to find long term accommodation here. Why not? He is so much bigger than the current socio-economic housing crisis in the nation and could easily demonstrate His power by providing housing for me despite the crisis.
Even as I wrote that in my journal, I had to remember something that happened back in 1985. After some years of working overseas in Europe and Africa, I came into a season of transition and returned to the UK to seek work as a language teacher in a Scottish high school. But I arrived back at a time when the falling birthrate and the surplus of available teachers had led to widespread unemployment for secondary school teachers. Many of my friends from University and College of Education were on unemployment benefit because they were struggling to find teaching posts... Yet, within just a couple of weeks, I'd already had three job offers for the new school term that lay ahead.
Of course, my being sought after in a time of such unemployment was partly due to my overseas experience that had given me such proficiency and fluency in both French and German... and that experience had come as the result of a previous step of costly obedience that I had taken at God's prompting - a step of obedience that had seemed risky and had met with opposition at the time. But now God was rewarding my obedience and proving His faithfulness.
He could do that again in this housing situation. The fact that He hasn't done that yet means that I just need to keep trusting Him and not walk away from what He has previously shown me.
Please give me grace and strength to do that, Lord.
