Why all the wandering ... ?

Continuing my daily reading in the book of Deuteronomy, this morning I came to chapter 8. Right in the first few verses, Moses reminds the people of how God led them in the wilderness and he explains just a part of the reason why God allowed them to wander around so much and change location so often: He was humbling you and testing you to prove your character and find out whether you would obey Him. That explains why God's provision often came seemingly "at the last minute." He wanted to see if the people would still obey what He'd told them, even when they were already starting to get hungry.

In fact, the people failed the test again and again: they grumbled and complained, they said they wanted to go back to Egypt; on one occasion they even made themselves a new god, in the form of a golden calf. It didn't take much to nudge them into rebellion and make them forget what God had asked of them. 

In the light of history, it's easy to look back and judge them for their bad attitudes, unthankfulness and unbelief... unless you yourself have ever been in that same position of being humbled and repeatedly brought to the end of your own resources. I have to confess that I can identify with the sense of desperation that led to their failing so often. It's hard and humbling to wander around the wilderness with no permanent home and not to be able to change your situation or provide for yourself in any way.

So many times on my homeless journey this year, the next temporary accommodation has only come along at a few days' notice, when I was getting close to the point of despair and to contemplating the humiliating prospect of finding myself with nowhere to go. It would have been SO much easier for me to pack up my things and go somewhere else - like moving back to the UK or to a different ministry location in another part of Europe.

But God had led me to Spain fifteen years ago and He hadn't yet told me it was time to leave here. The big question was whether I was going to keep obeying the last thing He said to me or whether I was going to panic and try to find an easy way out. You don't need much faith to obey God when everything is going smoothly for you. Faith only fully kicks in when everything looks impossible and you just have to hold on to the fact that God will continue to be faithful to what He said.

And so I had to smile when I read (in verses 7 - 8) the description of the "good land" that God was giving them. Of course, it's a description of Israel, but it's uncanny how it could be a description of here in Andalucía. "A land of fig trees and pomegranates, olive oil and honey." I pass all four of those every day when I'm out walking the dogs. (Yes, even the honey, as the bee hives are often set up in the forest.) "Grapevines, wheat and barley, underground springs that gush out in the valleys and hills." That's an accurate description of this region of Spain... and the town I've lived in since moving here is particularly well known for its underground springs.

Moses told the people that God had led them through a long time of wandering around - so that they'd never think they had achieved the promised land by their own efforts. I've seen too that eight months of house hunting have brought no result at all. It seems that only God will be able to break this stalemate.

But until then, the important question is whether I can trust Him and continue to obey Him - even when it's hard, even when it's humbling, even when it looks impossible...  

My prayer is that I will be found faithful, and that this will open the door for me to experience the faithfulness of God.