Journeys

We now move forward in our search for biblical journeys to the days when God’s chosen people were looking for a king. We read in 1 Samuel 9 that God granted their wish by leading Saul out of Gibeah to Samuel in Ramah. 

We pick up the story of how this started with a journey “…Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel: “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.”

Here we see the origin of the anointing of kings so recently seen at our own coronation of King Charles III. It is a tradition dating back to the Old Testament and was originally meant to emphasise the monarch’s divine right to the throne. 

Saul, originally had no desire for political power and little interest in the spiritual ministry of Samuel. As the son of a wealthy landowner, he was more concerned about the loss of his father’s donkeys, and the worry he might cause his father by being away so long in search of them. This concern led him to seek help from Samuel. He thought that Samuel, with his ability to see visions and make predictions, could tell him where the donkeys were.

In the mean time God revealed to Samuel that he had chosen Saul to be Israel’s king. Saul would save Israel from the Philistines, who had recently renewed their attacks. Samuel prepared Saul to receive this startling news by treating him with special honour at a sacrificial feast that was being held at that time.

The next day Samuel told Saul privately that God had chosen him to be king, after which Samuel anointed him in a brief, private ceremony. Samuel then predicted three things that would soon happen as proof to Saul that Samuel’s predictions always came true. Most important of these three events would be the coming of God’s special power upon Saul to change him from an ordinary Israelite farmer into a national leader. 

Have you ever considered that “…. you are God’s “chosen generation”, his “royal priesthood”, his “holy nation”, his “peculiar people”—all the old titles of God’s people now belong to you. It is for you now to demonstrate the goodness of him who has called you out of darkness into his amazing light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Father, please awaken me, and awaken my brothers and sisters in Christ, to the astounding realisation that You have placed us in our relationships with a purpose. You have intentionally given us these relationships — our families, friendships, coworkers, neighbours,  and everyone we meet — so we may be Your blessing in them. Awaken me to my holy role of blessing others. Help me understand the opportunities You have given me for this divine calling. I ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Journeys

One of the loveliest journeying stories of the Old Testament is found in the book of Ruth. There we read of how famine once again calls God’s people into exile. This time, however, God calls Ruth (a Moabite) out of Moab to go back to Bethlehem with those returning there.

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Here is just a snippet of this wonder story; why not read the whole book of Ruth when you have time. In chapter 1 we read what could be called a Sad Journey Home. Driven from their homeland by famine, Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons traveled to the land of Moab. Ten years later, Naomi found herself bereft of husband and sons with only two daughters-in-law. Hearing that the famine had ended in the land of Judah, she determined to return to her people.

How often do we find ourselves at a crossroad in life? Making what we believe to be a good decision, we set our hearts in a new direction and pray that God would guide our steps. Naomi had no idea of the plans of God for her. Returning in the bitterness of spirit, she could not imagine the blessings that awaited her in the land of Judah.

As we consider our lives, may we live this day for the honour and glory of God. May we take encouragement in the knowledge that God is directing our steps. Though the future is uncertain to us, it is not uncertain in the eyes of God. Let us seek His guidance through our study of His Word and in our times of prayer and praise to Him.

Heavenly Father, how blessed we are to have Your Word which reminds us, in so many ways, what a faithful God You are. It is so necessary to trust You in all things. Help me to examine my own life so that I may set my house in order. I want to be in the middle of Your will, moment by moment, and day by day. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Journeys

Today’s journey sees Moses return from isolation as God’s mediator who leads the Israelites out of Egypt to Joshua’s leadership at Jericho, God leads his people gradually back from from Egypt to Canaan. Abraham’s line has come full circle, and God’s promises are never once forgotten.

Exodus 15:22-25 Then Moses led the people of Israel on from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the wilderness of Shur and were there three days without water. Arriving at Marah, they couldn’t drink the water because it was bitter (that is why the place was called Marah, meaning “bitter”). Then the people turned against Moses. “Must we die of thirst?” they demanded.

I’m Mariah

Moses pleaded with the Lord to help his people, and the Lord showed him a tree to throw into the water, and the water became sweet.

It was there at Marah that the Lord laid before them the following conditions, to test their commitment to him:

I guess that we are all familiar with the Children of Israels Escape from Egypt, crossing the Red Sea and onto their 40 year journey through the Wilderness. This particular incident brings to mind the cry of children in the back of the car as the cry, “Are we nearly there yet?”

The had lived through the miraculous, survived to Red Sea Crossing and were on the road to freedom and yet just in three days they began to grumble; this reminds me of the poem:-

I knew a man whose name was Horner
Who used to live in grumble corner;
Grumble corner in crosspatch town
And he never was seen without a frown.

He grumbled at  this, and he grumbled at that,
He growled at the dog. He growled at the cat.
He grumbled at morning. He grumbled at night,
And to grumble and growl was his chief delight.

He grumbled so much at his wife that she
Began to grumble as well as he.
And all the children, wherever they went,
Reflected their parents’ discontent.

If the sky was dark and betokened rain,
Then Mr. Horner was sure to complain.
And if there was not a cloud about,
He grumbled because of a threatened drought.

His meals were never to suit his taste—
He grumbled at having to eat in haste.
The bread was poor, or the meat was tough--
Or else he hadn’t had half enough.

No matter how hard his wife would try
To please her husband, with scornful eye
He*d look around and then with a scowl
At something or other he’d begin to growl.

One day as I walked down the street,
My old acquaintance I chanced to meet;
Whose face was without the look of care
And the ugly frown that had drifted there.

"I may be mistaken" perhaps I said
As after saluting I turned my head!
"But it is, and it isn’t the Mr. Horner
Who used to live on grumble corner."

I met him next day and I met him again;
In melting weather and in pelting rain.
When stocks were up, and when stocks were down,
But a smile, somehow, had replaced the frown.

It puzzled me much, and so one day,
I seized his hand in a friendly way and said,
"Mr. Horner, I’d like to know
What can have happened to change you so?"

He laughed a laugh that was good to hear;
For it told of a conscience, calm and clear.
And he said with none of his old-time drawl,
"Why I’ve changed my residence, that is all.

"Yes," said Horner, "It wasn’t healthy on grumble corner"
And so I’ve moved: twas a change complete,
"And you will find me now
On Thanksgiving Street."

Well might we pray

God calls us into the desert,

but we follow reluctantly.

Saving God,

like Israel before us

we are filled with joy when you deliver us from bondage

and we praise you when you vanquish our foes.

Yet we are less trusting when you lead us into the desert:

the long way,

the unknown path,

the journey of trial, trust, and refining.

Forgive us for questioning the path you have chosen for us.

Forgive our complaining along the way.

Forgive the times we’ve stumbled 

when the journey was long and hard.

Deliver us from our Egypts.

Lead us on our unexpected journeys.

Sustain us in our deserts.

Bring us to our promised lands.

Let us follow with joy!

Amen.

Journeys

We pick up a journey of a different kind today; a journey of desperation. In Exodus 2:15 we read, God’s people are enslaved in Egypt, and Moses flees from Egypt to Midian: When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a

So from a position of trust within Pharaoh’s government, the descendants of Joseph now find them as slaves within Egypt. But strangely, Moses, through the clever actions of Miriam, his sister, rises to high office within the Egyptian Royal family. We recall how Moses, in spite of his high office still has deep within him a love for his people and kills an Egyptian guard abusing a slave. As a consequence he needs to flee the country and journeys to Midian.

It is whilst there he takes on the role of shepherd a task that will set him in good stead for his future role as leader of the Israel.

Such journeying with all its ups and downs reminds me of the hymn that says:-

As the varied way of life we journey,
Come the plains and then the mountainside,
Come the days of joy when birds are singing,
And the world is fair and sweet and wide;
Then a deeper joy comes, overfilling,
From the everlasting throne of love,
And all other joy is but an echo
From the ever-blessèd heights above.

There are shadows on the earthly pathway
Where, at times uncertainly, we tread;
In perplexity we halt and linger
Till our faith again is upward led.
For the heights of truth are ever calling,
And celestial radiance from afar
On our pilgrim way is gently falling
For our comfort where the shadows are.

In the days of peace and golden sunshine,
In the days of joy, or days of woe,
There is confidence in Him who holds us;
There is light to guide us here below.
And beyond await the heights of rapture,
Where all earthly joys, transcended, fade
In the glory of the Saviour’s presence,
In the Home eternal He has made.

Lily Sampson 1906-2000

Journeys

Today we continue  with the story of Joseph a number of years later at a time when famine had hit the countries around the Middle East. From a time of imprisonment now God puts Joseph in a position to aid his family as they flee the drought in Canaan to live in Egypt. In Genesis 42 we read, “Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.…So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father da Isaac.”

How times had changed; at first the brothers, on coming to meet the overseer of Pharaohs granaries did not recognise their brother.  Jealousy had turned into awe and reconciliation.

This raises the question as to how do we deal with situations when we have been wronged.

Joseph was just 17 years old when his older brothers, driven by jealousy, sold him into slavery (Genesis 37). Over the next several years, rather than allowing the pain of his situation to drag him down, Joseph kept his integrity and held to his faith in God.

He went from favoured son of Jacob to slave to head of the household for Pharaoh’s guard to prisoner to the governor of Egypt.

When we are put into situations we did not cause, it can be tempting to fall into a state of despair, but if we allow God to work in our circumstances, we can actually rise up and become an even better version of ourselves than we were before. In 1 Peter 3:9 we read “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”

Somewhere in his writings the late Chinese sufferer for Christ, Watchman Nee, tells of two Chinese terrace farmers. The farmer whose field was higher up the hill was a Christian. He would get up early and work hard to pump water by hand for his crops. But his shifty neighbour below him would cut a path through his upper neighbours dikes and let the water flow down to his lower field. This happened more than once and the Christian farmer was quite irritated with his lazy neighbour.

But rather than going down and yelling at his neighbour, the Christian farmer started pumping water first for his neighbour’s field and then for his own. As I recall the story, the lazy neighbour soon came under conviction, went to the Christian and apologised, and then listened to the Christian’s witness about Christ and came to faith in Christ himself.

Loving Father, it is so difficult to let go of the hurt.
First I ask you to cleanse my heart of my resentment I may hold.
Grant me the grace to forgive for this pain I feel.
Heal my brokenness and give me peace.
I believe you have the power to do this.
I trust in your justice.

In your compassion, grant him whatever grace is needed today.

I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord
Through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

A

Journeys

Today in the twist and turns of the Old Testament journeys we come across Jacob’s son Joseph being sold by his brothers from Canaan to Egypt in Genesis 37: “…when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.”

Of all the journeys found in the Old Testament, perhaps the story of Joseph is the most well known to our generation, thanks to the work of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. At the heart of the story of Joseph is that of favouritism and the jealousy of his brothers that changes the direction of his and their journey.

Bob Marley, the Jamaican singer and musician advocated that,  “Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!

There is a fable of an eagle which could out fly another, and the other didn't like it. The latter saw a sportsman one day, and said to him:

"I wish you would bring down that eagle." The sportsman replied that he would if he only had some feathers to put into the arrow. So the eagle pulled one out of his wing. The arrow was shot, but didn't quite reach the rival eagle; it was flying too high. The envious eagle pulled out more feathers, and kept pulling them out until he lost so many that he couldn't fly, and then the sportsman turned around and killed him. My friend, if you are jealous, the only man you can hurt is yourself.

In Philippians chapter 2 Paul writes, “Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”

Lord Jesus, my sincere desire is to become holy like you. Set me free from anxious thoughts that cause me to become jealous towards others. Please give me the grace to control jealous emotions when they arise. Please teach me how to be happy for my friends and family when they succeed. Purify my mind from ungodly thoughts and help me to walk in the way that is pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name, I believe and pray, Amen.

Journeying

In Genesis 32 Jacob wrestles with God and His promises as he from Haran to Bethel:

Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”

…

Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”

Many a follower of the Lord, has had episodes on their journey where they have erred and not completely followed his leadings. As a consequence of such difficulties the sense of unworthiness  can become an almost unbearable load. Such was the case with Jacob. I am struck by an idea of G. K. Chesterton who said, “We are unworthy to receive any gift at all from God, and we are unaware of our unworthiness until we realise that we are unworthy of even the gift of a dandelion. This weed we would like to remove from our garden grows naturally and completely by the grace of God and spreads its flowers everywhere. The naive children see it as a blessing.” 

It was who John Newton wrote to a young minister advising that God leads his people through distresses, including a sense of their sinfulness. And His purpose? To: ’…preserve in you a due sense of your own unworthiness, and to convince you, that your ability, your acceptance, and your usefulness depend on a power beyond your own.’

In spite of our unworthiness God still desires to bless us but like Jacob, we need to acknowledge our that we are unworthy recipients.

Lord, I know that Your Word tells me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I know I am your child; I know that I am saved by your grace. You are kind, good, merciful and gracious, and because You are all of those things, I know You are all of those things for me. When I feel unworthy, help me stop looking at and comparing myself to others, but fix my gaze on You. Through You I will always see my worth clearly. Thank you for your gracious love toward me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!