The March 1988 Rotarian tells the
story of a certain organization offering a bounty of $5,000 for wolves
captured alive. It turned Sam and Jed into fortune hunters. Day and night they
scoured the mountains and forests looking for their valuable prey. Exhausted
one night, they fell asleep dreaming of their potential fortune. Suddenly, Sam
awoke to see that they were surrounded by about fifty wolves with flaming eyes
and bared teeth. He nudged his friend and said, "Jed, wake up! We're
rich!" (Faith, Trials) Larson, Illustrations, 6
Charles Swindoll said: "The
longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to
me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than
education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than
what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance,
giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The
remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will
embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact
that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The
only thing we can do is play on the one string that we have, and that is our
attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90
percent how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our
attitudes."
Are
you a whiner or a diner?
Exodus 16:1-15
(NLT)
1 Then
they left Elim and journeyed into the Sin£ Desert, between Elim
and Mount Sinai. They arrived there a month after leaving Egypt. 2 There,
too, the whole community of Israel spoke bitterly against Moses and Aaron.
3“Oh,
that we were back in Egypt,” they moaned. “It would have been better if
the Lord had killed us there! At
least there we had plenty to eat. But now you have brought us into this desert
to starve us to death.”
4 Then
the Lord said to Moses, “Look,
I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. The people can go out each
day and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in
this to see whether they will follow my instructions. 5Tell them to
pick up twice as much as usual on the sixth day of each week.”
6 Then
Moses and Aaron called a meeting of all the people of Israel and told them,
“In the evening you will realize that it was the Lord
who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 In the morning you
will see the glorious presence of the Lord.
He has heard your complaints, which are against the Lord
and not against us. 8The Lord
will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning, for he has
heard all your complaints against him. Yes, your complaints are against the Lord,
not against us.”
9Then
Moses said to Aaron, “Say this to the entire community of Israel: ‘Come
into the Lord’s presence, and
hear his reply to your complaints.’” 10 And as Aaron
spoke to the people, they looked out toward the desert. Within the guiding
cloud, they could see the awesome glory of the Lord.
11And
the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I
have heard the people’s complaints. Now tell them, ‘In the evening you
will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then
you will know that I am the Lord
your God.’”
13 That
evening vast numbers of quail arrived and covered the camp. The next morning
the desert all around the camp was wet with dew. 14 When
the dew disappeared later in the morning, thin flakes, white like frost,
covered the ground. 15The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it.
“What is it?” they asked.
And Moses
told them, “It is the food the Lord
has given you.
Immediately following the Oasis(15:27)
comes the Testing in the middle of the desert of Sin..
Even in the middle of Sin, The Lord Cares for you that He gives us his
Grace , and mercy and forgiveness and his Blessings.
1. (V. 4.) The
Trials and tests from the Lord:
Meant to show us who we really are and who he
really is...
I Pet. 1:4
For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is
kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and
decay. 5 And God, in his mighty power, will protect you
until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be
revealed on the last day for all to see. 6 So be truly
glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to
endure many trials for a while. 7 These
trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is
being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more
precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being
tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on
the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
2.
Tests and Trials come in different forms such
as Shortage of food or abundance of food ,,, Not enough time to do everything
or too much time on our hands...persecution by friends and family over our
Christian life style or no persecution whatsoever from anyone. Even though God
has provided before will He continue to provide ??
One sure thing about tests is that they will come in one form or
another to each and everyone of us in God's family for the REVEALING OF THE
GLORY OF THE LORD. How will you
react and respond? This is the
proof of the test.
3.Our
Response to The Testing and Trials of the Lord..
Don’t
become a whiner. A whine occurs
when a large amount of wind is forced through a small opening.
a.
Dissatisfaction: unhappiness,
Are you old enough that your wants won't hurt you?
Didn't get what you wanted or expected from the Lord? How do you feel?
Satisfied or like something is missing? Do you miss the good old days of Egypt
or when you felt things were better? Do
you like the way things used to be better than the present? Has the Lord not
given you the best He has in the here and now.? Missing the good ole days.?
b. Discontentment:
a lack of contentment, shows a doubt or lack of faith in the Lord's
Promises. Are you ever happy with
the way things are?
Roma
8:28 (KJS) And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.
Seen by the grumbling, murmuring,
complaining, and whining of the people..
Who did the people complain about? Was it God or Moses and Aaron?
Complaining about the leaders shows discontentment in your life.
Trully, the complaints were against God and not Moses and not Aaron.
Complaining about the leadership?
c. Discouragement: No
courage to go on. Just want to quit . Lay
down and die. v.3 "Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in
the land of Egypt." Have you
given up on the Lord , the church, the leadership, the job, the family, and
finally on Life? Do you feel like
just quitting? The most dangerous
feeling you can have is the discouragement that leads to death!
But
How does the Lord want us to Respond? Join
the Diners Club and praise the Lord.How should we respond to the testing
and trials that the Lord allows to come into our Life?
a.
Rejoice and give praise , honor, and glory to
the appearing of Jesus Christ who continues to live and provide for us the
blessings of the living God. He
continues to give to bread from heaven and the quail that satisifies our needs
and longings. In the middle of our desert of trials He continues to bless
us with the best of heaven..
But
How is possible to rejoice in the Lord in
the midst of trials and not succomb to temptation to doubt the presence and
provision of the Lord?
a. Listen to message of the Lord given by God's
messengers. Aaron and Moses spoke
as the Lord gave them the message. Listen!
v.8
b. Come near to the Lord v.9
c. Look for the Glory of the Lord even in the
middle of the desert of temptation. v.10
d. Watch for the Lord to open up the windows of
heaven and pour out the blessings even though we complain and doubt his power
and presence.
e. Taste what the Lord will give you to eat and
be satisfied and filled with the goodness of the Lord. Don't overlook the manna because the flesh pots of Egypt are
still on your mind.
2Cor
9:8 (KJS) And God [is] able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye,
always having all sufficiency in all [things], may abound to every good work: