So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt Part 2
It’s A Manna Of Trust
We started a new series of messages last week entitled So You Wanna Go Back To
Egypt.
We came to the recognition that our spiritual Egypt is one in which we depend
upon ourselves to provide everything we need to live the good life.
Our spiritual baggage from living in Egypt is self-dependence.
Last week I failed to mention that like the Children of Israel,
Believers spend time in a spiritual desert as we journey to the
Promised Land, a land flowing with Milk and Honey. (Exodus 3:8)
One of the reasons we spend time in our own unique spiritual wilderness is
to unlearn self-dependency and learn to depend on God as the
provider of all we need.
God provided basic sustenance for the Jews in the desert,
God gave them their daily bread.
But living on daily provision is very frightening.
The people grumbled and complained about the situation,
They started to convince themselves that things
were better in Egypt, the land of their
oppression and slavery.
That same temptation confronts believers today as they learn the lessons of
dependency upon God.
We’re going to consider that today in part 2 of our series,
It’s a Manna of Trust.
The way you get through the desert is by learning the lessons that are taught in the
desert.
One of those lessons is learning to be confident in God’s provision.
To make it into the Land of Promise we must learn to trust God.
Last week I left you will a point to ponder,
I asked you to rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10,
With a 1 being “Not At All” and a 10 “Can’t Do It Without Him,”
On how much you feel you need God’s provision and intervention for
you to make through your normal day’s routine.
When I was first presented with that little exercise I was not really happy with my
results.
I spent some time practicing that 7th habit of a disciple,
That spiritual discipline of contemplation,
where you have a heart to heart conversation with God.
In that encounter the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I didn’t really depend
on God’s provision all that much.
Oh I did on some “religious, Pharisaical, hypocritical level.”
After all I was a Christian:
I accepted the fact that I could not provide salvation for myself.
I believed that only Jesus could provide salvation for me.
I committed myself to following Jesus into that Salvation
And I knew that God has accepted my faith,
and set my feet on the path to salvation.
But I still hadn’t learned to live on daily bread.
I still was depending upon my own resources,
my own strengths,
my own wisdom to get the stuff I thought I
needed for the good life.
I had to learn to trust in God to provide.
I had to move from a fairytale belief in God to a gut-level belief,
From hearsay faith to the real deal. (Kevin Stirratt, Manna, p. 29)
At the same time I needed to learn how to chase after God Himself and not His
provision.
Jesus told us to consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air—
Matthew 6:26 (MSG)
Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
Matt 6:28-30 (MSG)
…walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. "If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?
Of course you see the point—
Don’t you think God cares about you even more than He cares about birds
and bushes?
The answer should be yes.
Yes I trust that God will take care of me.
Do you see the sign of His caring in how he provides for all the living in the
natural world?
Psalms 147:7-9 (MSG)
Sing to God a thanksgiving hymn, play music on your instruments to God, Who fills the sky with clouds, preparing rain for the earth, then turning the mountains green with grass, feeding both cattle and crows.
Psalms 145:15-16 (NIV)
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The difficulty we have is that we see the signs and intellectually agree but we still
remain unconvinced that He really cares about us as individuals.
Both Old and New Testament encourage us to trust in God to provide.
“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” ( Psalms 55:22 (NIV). “ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 (NIV).
In the desert God uses situations and circumstances that demand that we seek Him,
His provision, His intervention, His miracle to get us through or we won’t
make it.
I’ve derided what I call Fox Hole Christianity.
Fox Hole Christianity is when you are in a tough spot you pray,
and vow to God to do anything to get you out.
He gets you out and you forget your vow.
But God places us in those situations where we do cry out to Him,
And when He delivers, He has faith in us that we will keep our vows.
Its by allowing us to be in those difficult places,
in those hard times,
that our faith grows and deepens.
Faith is trust and confidence that leads us to action.
The action is to depend on God, knowing that He will provide.
You have to ask yourself
“Do I believe there is a God who knows my needs, cares about my needs,
and takes care of my needs?” (Stirratt, p. 25)
That baggage from Egypt, the Land of egoism, says
“Nobody but me takes care of me,
I am the only one I can count on.
If I don’t do everything in my power to take care of myself,
I am dead!” (Stirratt, p. 25)
We can Christianize this pagan thinking by saying to ourselves:
“I will pray to God and hope it helps,
but I still need to take care of myself.” (Stirratt, p. 29)
“I need to develop some good alternative plans if God
doesn’t come through for me.”
“I need to figure out how to take care of
business.”
Faith convinces you that God has got your back (Stirratt, p. 28)
No need to worry, God will provide.
That kind of convincing only comes when you’ve been thrown into
the fire and discover you didn’t get burned. (Daniel 3)
That kind of convincing only comes when you find your self in a
hungry den of lions and don’t get eaten. (Daniel 6)
Faith convinces you that God “knows your need before you ever could.
His attention isn’t diverted by the complexity of your circumstance,
He isn’t panicked by the severity of your need…
His resources aren’t stretched ...” (Stirratt, p. 28)
No need to worry, God will provide. God has got your back.
That kind of convincing only comes when you have faced the giants
and defeated them (1 Samuel 17)
That kind of convincing only comes when there is no food or water in
the desert but still you drink and eat.
Having faith, believing, trusting that God has got you back isn’t an excuse for you
to play the fool.
It must have been a pastor,
There were terrible rains and the news casters had dire predictions of
the river overflowing its banks and the dam bursting flooding
the city.
Pastor thought, no worries, God will deliver me.
Well around noon the civil alert sirens went off and the radio and TV
announced the need for immediate evacuation.
Pastor thought, no worries, God will deliver me.
There was a knock on his door, a police officer said,
“Pastor you need to leave now the flood waters are just down
the block.”
Pastor said: “No worries, I’ll be fine. God will deliver me.”
The water continues to rise and a little while later firemen in a boat
come by and call out: Pastor you have to leave now the dam is
about to break.
Pastor calls out from the upstairs window:
“No worries, I’ll be fine. God will deliver me.”
The dam breaks and the Pastor is forced to the roof top.
A helicopter flies over with an escape ladder dangling down.
Pastor waves the pilot off yelling:
“No worries, I’ll be fine. God will deliver me.”
Well tragedy strikes and the Pastor is swept away by the raging water
and drowns.
In an instant the Pastor is standing before ST Peter at the Pearly Gates,
soaking wet, spewing water and fighting mad.
He stretches an accusing finger at St Peter and says:
“I trusted God to deliver me but He never showed up.”
And St Peter replied, “Wait a minute, who do you think sent the
Warning on your TV, the police officer to your door,
the fireman in the boat and the helicopter to your roof?”
The morale of the story is: “Don’t be foolish in your faith.”
When you’re in one of those tough places remember to pray and ask for
wisdom.
James 1:5-6 (MSG)
If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.
God has given you gifts, abilities, talents, intelligence, ask God how you need to
put them to work as you wait upon His provision.
It is normal for Christians to realize they are in the desert and can not provide for
themselves.
The situation demands that they learn the lesson of trusting in God to
meet their needs;
To make it into the Promised Land we have to have faith that it is God
who makes it all possible;
To have that kind of faith we need to receive from God our daily
bread.
Its all a manna of trust.
Christians need to learn to trust in God to provide.
That’s one reason you get to spend time in the desert on the way to the Land
of Promise.
God cares, God will provide., God is writing a good story.
At the same time we need to learn to chase after God Himself and not His
provision.
Jesus finishes up His teaching about His Father caring more for you than the
birds of the air and the flower of the fields, by saying “Don’t Worry.”
Matthew 6:31-33 (NIV)
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
When your faith grows to the point where deep in your heart you are convinced
that God is capable and will provide everything you need,
a second concern comes into focus.
Am I more interested in God’s provisions and gifts than I am in God?
One of the catchy “tickle their fancy” teachings in the church today is the idea that
God wants you to live the American Dream.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
God wants you to be happy.
God is our therapist who will help us make the
adjustments we need to get what we want.
When we view God as a therapist Christianity is about consumption.
We consume the gifts of God so we can enrich our lives.
We really don’t need God, we just need what He can do for us.
It’s the baggage from Egypt:
“Its all about my emotional health, my spiritual maturity,
my soul’s satisfaction, my circumstantial happiness,
my meaningful ministry, my business success.”
(Crabb, The Pressure is Off, p. 66)
That’s all egoism, even though I have Christ in my life,
Life is still all about me.
What motivates my continued belief in God,
What motivates my continued discipleship
is what I get from my relationship with God.
The Therapeutic God teaches us how to restore marriages,
provides great ideas on raising kids,
tells us the secrets of success,
offers us principles to live by,
the methods to follow that will give us the life we
want. (Crabb, p. 72)
The scriptures are an instruction manual for life,
But they are so much more than that,
The Word of God reveals the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to us.
The Bible is a means of encounter with God.
We’re Christians but we’re walking like Egyptians.
All we need to do is “discern which principles to follow
that will bring about the blessings we want,
then put them into practice as best we can,
then prayer, trusting God to honor our obedience
by making our lives work better. (Crabb, p. 80)
We’re Christians but we’re walking like Egyptians.
“We’re never more deceived than when we think we’re living for God,
but in fact we are living for His blessings.
When we persuade ourselves that its our job to prayer properly,
live morally and love meaningfully,
and that its God’s job to reward us with whatever blessings we most
want
we’ve deceived ourselves.” (Crabb. p. 82)
I must learn in the desert that God is the only source of provision;
I must learn to trust God to provide;
and I must learn to need God more than His gifts;
I must learn that even if there is no provision God Himself is
enough.
“Being in Him, having Him in us,
living with His energy, chasing after His purposes,
loving what He loves, seeing Him form in us” (Crabb, p. 72)
that’s what we need, that’s the blessing He gives,
That’s what we are to seek.
As we seek first His Kingdom, all the other stuff will be given.
“We experience so little of Him when we approach Him only with requests.
We taste so little of the soul-satisfying,
complaint-ending,
desire-deepening awe that His presence creates
when we think more about our problems, or needs
and getting God to give us what we want than
about meeting with Him.”
(Crabb, p. 76)
In the desert we are to learn not to chase after God for what He can do for us,
for His gifts, but rather the blessing of God Himself.
Being aware of His presence,
Knowing that God is with you,
And that God is enough,
Is a lesson of the desert.
In his letter the believers in the city of Philippi the Apostle Paul wrote of the result
of possessing the blessing of God’s presence
Philippians 4:11-12 (NIV)
… I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
The secret is cultivating an abiding sense of His presence.
The secret is knowing Him,
The secret is trusting Him.
The secret is relaxing in Him
The result is contentment,
Its an incredible peace,
contentment and peace that empowers you to walk through the
desert, those tough times,
those horrible circumstances,
those terrible seasons.
Its all a manna of trust.
Trusting God to provide,
And trusting even if He doesn’t,
That God Himself is enough.
Once again I want to leave you with a point to ponder.
One a scale of 1 to 10, with one being: “I Trust in My Self,” and a 10 being:
“I trust in God”
Rate yourself by answering this question
Who do I trust to provide for my needs?
Who do I trust to provide for my needs?
My Self God
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10