Ever left the dishes in the sink a little too long?
Or, maybe, put off the changing of the cat litter until the
clumping factor has lost its “clump”?
And, darn that pile of wet, stinky laundry that just never
quite made it down the stairs and into the washing machine!
My kids really get tired of me asking them to do these, and
other necessary evils around the house.
Sadly for me, sometimes they know that it will drive me crazy and they
wait me out. And, often I’ll just end up
just doing them myself because I cannot stand the smell or grime any
longer.
But most of the time, they just hear me say, “Delayed
obedience is still… Disobedience!”
And yesterday, God said the very same thing to my heart.
Funny how being a parent can help you get a sense of how God
must see us as His children.
You see I’ve had this very strong heart’s desire to follow
hard after God and to pursue my writing.
I want to honor Him and bless others with the wisdom He flows into my
heart and mind.
There are times that I get these “holy cow” ideas and
inspirations and cannot wait to write about them. I get them when I’m running or working
out. I get them when I’m waiting to pick
up a carpool of kids, or whenever…. But
then I get distracted and busy with the next event or task and forget to take
the time to sit and write out the thoughts that God has placed on my
heart. And at the end of the day, when I
remember, I feel regret and simply make
excuses or rationalizations about how busy I am or how I’ll get to it when life
becomes a little more sane.
Until yesterday, when God said to me, “Delayed obedience is
still… Disobedience!”
All those moments of inspiration that came over me and
blessed my heart are like dreams I had at night. You know how you wake up certain that you
will remember the dream. But later that
day you can only line up together bits and pieces. And the big picture and beauty of it are now
gone.
Try telling that dream to someone else. It makes no sense to you and sounds crazy to
anyone with whom you share it.
It was no dream what God did for the Israelites who wandered
in the wilderness for 40 years.
In Exodus 16, the Bible tells us of how the Israelites
circled the desert, continuously cycling though their search for God, learning
His commands, obeying Him and then altering His commands to fit their lifestyle
a “little better”.
Hmmm! That didn’t
work out. Life not going so well for
them; let’s start the cycle again: search for God, learn His commands, obey Him
and then…
You see, back in the wilderness, there was not much to
eat. The Israelites complained to their
leader, Moses. Even after God had led
them out of slavery in Egypt and promised them a better life, they kept losing
their way. So God provided nourishment
along the way.
Exodus 16:4 The Lord said to Moses, “I’m going to
send you food from heaven like rain. Each day the people should go out and
gather only what they need for that day. In this way I will test them to see
whether or not they will follow my instructions.
13 – 15
…in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, the ground was covered
with a thin layer of flakes like frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw
it, they asked each other, “What is this?” because they didn’t know what it
was. Moses said to them, “It’s the food
the Lord has given you to eat.
21 Each
morning they gathered as much food as they could eat. When the sun was hot, it
melted away.
31 The
Israelites called the food manna. It was like coriander seeds. It was white and
tasted like wafers made with honey.
Many of us have heard
this story so many times that it has lost its wonder. God provided for these people for 40
years! It even says in Exodus that their
shoes and clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell! (look it up)
Walking around for 40
years in the same shoes! C’mon! Do you
see some wonder!
And for the manna, World
English Dictionary lists several definitions to include:
1. Divine or spiritual food
2. Any sudden or unexpected help, advantage, or
aid to success.
So, God said to me,
“Delayed obedience is still… Disobedience!”
And then He said, “I refresh
your soul each day with the rain of spiritual food to aid in your success. But you need to gather it each morning and
follow My instruction. For when the day
is done, it will melt away like in a dream.
But while it is on your tongue, it will be as sweet as honey.”
For those who question
me, I am not one who hears an audible, booming voice from the heavens. But, I do hear the clear voice of God. It is deep in my spirit. It is deep within my soul. The words spoken in the quote above are
simply paraphrased from Exodus 16 above.
But, I KNOW they are for me.
I may not be able to go
back and gather manna from the past, as it has melted away. But, I will not regret. For I have learned my lesson in obedience.
If I want to get out of
my wilderness and show God that I am ready to pass this “test to see if I will
follow” His instructions, then I will not look back.
He is my God. He provides manna daily for me.
It will be sweet to me and to those with whom
I share it.
I will seek Him and I
will share Him.
I will follow hard after
Him.
I will obey Him by
gathering the manna daily and taking the time to write it down.
I love You, Lord!
