I Am an Israelite

As a family, we've been reading the Bible in a year together. At the same time, the church we've been attending is going through something called The Story, which is a 30 week overview of the Bible. We decided to throw in The History Channel's The Bible series for good measure. We are immersed.

One of the things that always gets me when I read the Old Testament is how the Israelites can seem so dense. I mean, seriously - God parts the Red Sea for you to walk through, and about a minute later you're complaining that you want to go back to Egypt? He provides food out of nowhere, but still you must grumble? The leader goes away for a little while and you decide the best option is to make a farm animal out of perfectly good jewelry to worship? So fickle. So quick to forget. So untrusting.

So much like me.

Sigh. The truth is, I am an Israelite. I have seen God do amazing things in my lifetime, both around me and in me. But give me a new circumstance, a new place in life, and I too often forget what God has done and who He is. I look at myself, my own resources, my lack, and I lose heart. That is what I have done these last few weeks, and it has not been pretty, my friends. Not. Pretty.

Isn't that what the Israelites did? They took their eyes off who God is and looked at their circumstances through their own eyes. God didn't change - their perspective did. They just plain forgot who they were dealing with.

Which is why Moses, in Deuteronomy, tells them about 100 times "do not forget the Lord." Remember what He has done. Remember who He is. That same God who parted the Red Sea? He's with you in your move. He's going ahead of you to find that house. He's here in Orlando. He's got plans for you.

When I realized this a couple days ago, I took some time to sit down, confess it to God, and to remind myself of who He is. He is good, He sees me, He is able, He is love. It doesn't matter the circumstances, it matters who we're looking at to take care of them.