Living and Dying in the Wilderness
Some will live and die in their wilderness lives.
Moses, that mighty man of God, confronted the Egyptian Empire — the mightiest empire of that time — and Pharaoh, its absolute ruler, who thought he was “god.” Moses convinced Pharaoh to free God’s people, the Israelites. He led anywhere from two to three million people, who had lived in Egypt for four hundred years, out through the wilderness toward an unknown promised land.
Yet that same Moses, a man of God, could not convince his brother-in-law, Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, to leave his wilderness life and be a help to Moses on the journey to the promised land.
Right after that disappointment with Hobab, God wrote these words in the Book of Numbers: “As they moved on each day, the cloud of the Lord hovered over them” (Numbers 10:34).
That is the story of every truly born-again believer. We often seek out other human beings and place our trust in them, thinking they may have expertise that we lack, and we look to them for help and guidance. But we will be utterly disappointed, because they cannot stop their own lying, cheating, hating, gossiping, racism, double lives, and worship of politicians.
“When God is dead in your life, all things are permissible.” — Dostoevsky
If Almighty God and His power are not part of someone’s life, then anything and everything is permissible for that person.
“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.” — C.S. Lewis
Half-hearted people, lukewarm Christians craving the praise of others — the net result is an absolutely miserable existence. Do you have a new nature? Are you truly converted, or do you have one foot in the world and the other in the things of God?
If so, you are an absolutely miserable creature! — Dr. Lloyd-Jones