To Bring Us In

April 4

Deuteronomy 5-6

Psalm 40:6-10

Proverbs 10:9-11

Luke 6:27-49

To Bring Us In

“but He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.  So Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God for our good all our days and for our survival, as it is today.”  Deuteronomy 6:23-24 LSB

God always has a purpose when He tells us to do something.  As parents when our children ask us “Why?” sometimes we are tempted to say, “Because I said so.”  Now to be fair, our children should obey us because we said so.  And we should obey God because He said so.  We have authority over our children. Sometimes they do not have the capacity to understand why something we tell them to do is for their good and they just need to obey us.  Likewise, God has authority over us and we do not have the capacity to always understand what He is doing. We just need to trust Him and obey.  We can, however, be confident that if God is telling us to do something, there is a reason and a purpose.  We can trust that He knows best and that He always has our best interest in mind.  When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, it was not simply to free them from slavery.  That was a good benefit, but that was not His ultimate purpose.  He brought them out of Egypt IN ORDER TO BRING THEM IN to the Promised Land.  He had an amazing plan for them.  He had prepared a place for them that was a beautiful land flowing with milk and honey.  It was the most beautiful place on earth that He wanted to give to His chosen people.  He wanted them to obey His statutes and laws because He knew that by doing that it would be good for them in their new home.  They would be able to live in peace and joy.  Unfortunately, they did not listen and obey. 

            The same principle applies to us.  When we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, God does not want to just free us from the trouble, He wants to help us walk in the life He has planned for us.  If we obey Him and follow His directions things will go well for us and we will be able to live in peace and joy.  If we do not obey Him, we will experience more difficulty and pain.  His purpose is never just to help us fix our problem.  He always wants to help us walk in relationship with Him.  When we ask for physical healing, He may provide that, but His ultimate goal is that we have more faith in Him and that we are spiritually whole.  If we are having financial difficulties, He may help us meet our needs, but He also wants to develop our faith so that we are able to rely more completely on Him for all our needs.  God’s main goal for our lives is not that we be free from difficulty or have a life of ease.  His goal for us is that we become like His Son.  Whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in, we can be assured that He is at work to purify us and develop us into who He wants us to be.  Our job is to trust Him and cooperate with Him in the process.