When I read about the fickle nature of the Israelites, it’s so easy to judge from afar & scream back in time for them to follow for good!
When I consider the annals of my own life, however, I see a similar pattern. 😳
Nehemiah writes that they took over homes they didn’t build, cisterns they didn’t dig & fruit trees they didn’t plant. In fact, there was so much abundance that, “they ate until they were full & fat, enjoying themselves in all the blessings.”
Enjoying abundance is not bad, unless it opens the door to complacency, which opens the door to a whole lotta other. The next verse says that despite all the plenty, they turned their backs on God.
Then it’s like a rolling tide👉🏽they enter a season of lack & return to God👉🏽The abundance comes & turn their backs again. Over & over the same-story-different-day continues until they find themselves standing with Nehemiah as, “slaves in the land of plenty.” Doesn’t that phrase feel like a sock to the gut?👊🏽
The land flowing with milk & honey, given to their ancestors for enjoyment, was no longer theirs. They were slaves to those who had power over them. Nehemiah writes, “We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.”
I’m aware that not all misery is due to disobedience. When there are, however, seasons of seeming lack, then the thing lacking must not be good for that season.
It’s SO easy to slip into complacency in the land of plenty. In years of “full & fat”, my walk with Jesus became distant & my eyes became focused on the provision instead of Provider. Much like the Israelites, this would land me in a season where I felt a slave in the land of plenty.
Psalm 34 promises that those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. If I’m lacking something, it must not be good-or the Lord is orchestrating some grander plan than I cannot see.
Lord, guard us from relying on provision & becoming fat & complacent in our faith. May we always have an ever increasing hunger for more of You. If we seem to lack anything, we can be confident that it must not be good for this season. In fact, let seeming lack become a red light reminder that You are the Source of all things good!
August 15th One Year Bible Readings
💡Nehemiah 9:22-10:39
💡1 Corinthians 9:19-10:13
💡Psalm 34:1-10
💡Proverbs 21:13
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