Devotionals for the Heart: Faithfulness

Faithfulness in the Wilderness
A devotional by Mirachelle Canada

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
~Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)

Have you ever had to search for something you desperately needed or wanted? In the book of Exodus, after the Israelites were rescued from Egypt they searched for the Promised Land for forty years because they failed to obey God. Forty years of searching for what they wanted, what God had promised them. Forty years spent wandering in the wilderness. That’s practically my whole life.

I’m so thankful I haven’t been wandering in the wilderness my whole life. I’ve experienced wilderness moments though, so I can kind of relate to the Israelites, who I imagine had a tough time while wandering, waiting, and questioning. Jesus also had a wilderness moment for forty days, a lot longer than anyone living now would prefer, and he was alone.

God never promised we wouldn’t have wilderness moments. He did promise to show us a way through them guided by His love and compassion. In my late twenties, I became jobless. Left to wander, wait, and question what God was doing. Like the Israelites, I was looking for the Promised Land – a place to live, work, thrive, and provide. After waiting several months for God to lead me, I got frustrated in the process. I questioned why God wasn’t lighting my path and how I was going to cover my mounting expenses.

Like the Israelites, I needed a distraction in my waiting period, so I journeyed with my church’s singles group to the Outer Banks for some quality fellowship time at the beach. After a few days, I couldn’t fully embrace the gift of social time because I was so consumed by my own worries in the wilderness. While surfing internet job sites, I felt the need to stop searching and take a walk on the beach. I figured a walk would also allow me some time alone to pray (i.e., ask God what was going on for the millionth time).

As I meandered through the tide swept sand with the cool breeze tingling my face, I asked God to show me something, anything, to give me a sense of what I was supposed to do next. 

"Dig." The immediate response prompted me to kneel right where I was and dig up the moist grains with both hands. After a few minutes, I had a large pile of sand next to me and a hole before me that yielded nothing. “What’s the deal, God?” I whined like a punished child.

I felt God respond, “I just wanted to see if you would dig.”

Want to know the difference between God’s relationship with us and the Israelites? 

Obedience. It’s a choice we get to make every day, even in the wilderness. Because of God’s great love, He has promised the trials of life: the loss of a job, a home, land, or loved-one, will not consume us. His love can’t fail us.

God’s mercies are new every day because He is faithful to complete what He has begun in us. He meets us in the process, not only to guide us on the crooked path to all He has promised but to teach us that when we listen and obey, the journey of forty years or forty days could be but a day in love with Him.

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Author Bio:

Mirachelle Canada is a writer, playwright, screenwriter and theatre director/producer from Northern Virginia. She teaches television production at C.D. Hylton Senior High School.

She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Script & Screenwriting from Regent University and is a member of Act One: Hollywood Film & Television Writing Program, American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), ACFW Virginia Chapter, The Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, and Your Novel Blueprint.

Mirachelle is passionate about awakening creativity and the gifts of God in everyone. She is currently working on her first historical fiction novel set during WWII, inspired by her time studying theatre education in London, England.

In her spare time, she also writes and directs Christmas and Easter passion plays at Christ Chapel Assembly of God in Woodbridge, VA.

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Connect with Mirachelle:
Website: www.mirachellecanada.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirachellecanada/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mirachelle77/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/miracan