Devotionals for the Heart: Learning to trust and obey God through it all

Good Things Await
A devotional by Hannah Benson

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”—Psalm 81:10 (ESV)

As I read the story of the Israelites, I realize that I can relate to them in a lot of ways. Many of the lessons God teaches His chosen people throughout the Old and New Testaments can certainly apply to us as well. Do you remember their story? In case you don’t, I’ll write a refresher below. The following is the shortened version.

The Israelites had suffered as slaves in Egypt for 430 years. They wanted nothing more than for someone to come save them and to set them free from their bondage. Eventually, God raised up one of their own—a man named Moses and his brother, Aaron, to lead His people out of Egypt.

It’s a long and harrowing process, but once Pharoah finally let the Israelites go, things seemed to be looking up until Pharoah changed his mind and with his armies, chased the Israelites soon after their exodus. For a moment they panicked because the Red Sea was infront of them and Pharoah and his army were behind them. They needed a miracle and God delivered them by splitting the Red Sea so that they could walk through it on dry ground. As soon as they were safe on the other side, God closed the Red Sea over their enemies, and they never had to see those Egyptians again!

But then, they entered the Wilderness of Sin. They spent days in the desert that turned into months and years before they could enter the Promised Land. A trip from Egypt to the Promised Land should only have taken 11 days but there was a delay because the Israelites complained and disobeyed God. As a result, they had to wander through the wilderness for 40 years. During this journey, they were not content with God’s daily provision of manna from Heaven (Exodus 16). They didn’t have any meat available to them like they had as slaves in Egypt. They said that they would’ve rather “died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 16:3).

Had not God had proven Himself faithful when he brought the ten plagues upon the Egyptians and kept the Israelites from harm? What about when He had parted the Red Sea?

The Israelites had forgotten the faithfulness of God and their past season looked enticing. On multiple occasions, they were even willing to return to Egypt and be slaves again because the fear of the future was too frightening!

In the same way, sometimes, God calls us to walk away from a season because it was harmful for us. Or maybe, it was a great season, but it’s simply time to move on. How many times have we been like the Israelites, afraid to face change? Have you ever wanted to go back to a past season just because change looks too scary? I know I have.

God doesn’t desire that we live in captivity. I also believe that He doesn’t mean for us to stay in the same season forever. But what do we do when seasons change? It can be frightening, and we can be tempted to hold onto the past, whether it was good or bad. But I truly believe that He wants us to let go and step into the new season. Remember His words in Psalm 81:10, “I am the LORD your God,” He tells the Israelites. “who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

God was faithful to bring the Israelites out of captivity. He didn’t want them to go back. We, like the Israelites, need a frequent reminder of that story. We need to remember that God brought us up out of the last season, out of high school, out of a longtime job, out of a relationship, and we’re not meant to go back.

This is where the next part of the verse comes in. After we’ve come out of a previous season, I think we just stand there, too afraid to move forward, and long for the past because it seems “safe”.

But we’re so busy staring at the past that we miss the present and the fact that God wants to move in our lives now. I believe God wants us to be expectant. We should trust that He will provide for us now as He did back then. There is beauty in every season. Imagine how many good things await us if we opened our hearts and allowed Him to move freely in our life.

Let’s Pray:
Dear Father God, please forgive me for being stuck in the past when you’re calling me forward. Please help me to be brave and courageous and take the next step forward, whatever that looks like. I trust that You have my best interests at heart. You will not lead me somewhere that You will not be. Thank you for that! In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “Trusted” by Jillian Edwards. Listen to it here.

~*~
Author Bio:

Hannah Benson is a Jesus-follower who’s passionate about sharing the love of Christ with others. 

From the time she could hold a pen, she was writing. But it wasn’t until she was sixteen that she began to seriously follow God’s calling to write a novel. Hannah is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and has at least four novels in the works. For the past five years, she has been involved with her local Biblical theater company. She wants to show others the love of Jesus through the creative arts.

When she’s not acting or working on her upcoming novel, you can find Hannah laughing with her siblings, cuddling her little fluffy dog, or reading books (usually historical fiction or fantasy stories). You can read more of Hannah’s writings on her blog or on her Instagram where she strives to write content that leaves others feeling encouraged.

~*~
Connect with Hannah:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahlynnauthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Hannah-Lynn-Writer/100073790792576/
Blog: www.loveunconditional.blog

Devotionals for the Heart: Leadership

Shifts and Stages: My Reflections on Leadership 
A devotional by Chaplain Paul Anderson

“Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves face down on the ground. And they saw the Glory of God.”

—Numbers 20:6 (The Message)

As a leader, I have been ruminating on two topics: Succession Planning and Generational shifts.

While pondering these topics, I was inspired to consider the leadership of the Old Testament patriarch, Moses. He was challenged by the privilege of leading over a million people through epochs of emancipation, the storming and norming flow of freedom and the responsibilities that come with sovereignty. He then led them into a renewal of spiritual singularity and prepared them for the conquests of nation building.

Over forty years, two generations, Moses led with divinely guided vision. His successes were not without frustration. When his frustrations peaked, there was always a calming conversation with divinity, until one day the conversation came before the conflict.

The fourth book of the Hebrew Pentateuch, Numbers 20:1-12, tells the story of a crucial conversation between Moses and the congregation of the nomadic Israelites. Miriam had died recently so the setting of this conflict is during a time of national grief and literal drought.

Once again, without water, the hoard of people hurled accusations against Moses instead of trusting God to provide for them as He had done previously. The story says that Moses and Aaron retreated to the temple to pray and the presence of God met them there with clear guidance. God said to Moses “Take the staff. Assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron. Speak to that rock that’s right in front of them and it will give water. You will bring water out of the rock for them; congregation and cattle will both drink.” (The Message)

Dutifully Moses calls the community together. Once assembled, for some ungodly reason, Moses deviated from the clear guidance of God. Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses verbally accosted the people, then he struck the rock twice with his staff. Water flowed, but God was not pleased.

In a subsequent and more crucial conversation, God informs Moses and Aaron that they had failed the test of faith by acting with public irreverence. Because of that mistake, they would not be anointed to lead the people into the new phase of their national development.

Ouch! Forty years, two generations of enduring the heights, depth and breadth of leadership were truncated by an inordinate display of old school leadership. I was taught, in my youth, to believe that God is good all the time, but I struggled to see the goodness of God in this situation. I always thought that it was cruel of God, to dispossess a man from the vision that He had given.

Wasn’t it God who put this mantle upon the reluctant Moses? Now, after leading people, many of whom were two generations younger than he was, who did not grow up how and where he did, whose relationship with Egypt was history rather than biography, his moment of frustration was unforgivable? That did not seem good to me, until I read it with different eyes.

Harold Kushner, a prominent rabbi and author of the book titled, Overcoming Life's Disappointments: Learning from Moses How to Cope with Frustration, suggested that God was actually blessing Moses and Aaron. He was protecting them from the inevitable disappointment of seeing fantasy become experience. Rarely does reality match the verdant colors and contours of imagination. Fulfilled fantasies are often accompanied by disillusionment.

No doubt, Moses and Aaron were disappointed, but Rabbi Kushner paints the blessing of disappointment in the following phrase:

“…Moses had been the right leader to bring a nation of slaves out of Egypt and lead them to Sinai, but he would be the wrong leader to take them into the battle for the Promised Land. He was too old, too tied to the way things had been done in the past. God was saying to Moses as He had once bid Moses say to Pharaoh, “It is time to let my people go.” (Kushner 2006 pg. 157)

The moment at the rock near Kadesh is an apt illustration of transitional awareness. God knew that Moses had become old and though physically strong had become worn down and emotionally depleted by burn out. His leadership style was probably three generations removed from the people he was leading. Burned out, and angry, perhaps more with God than the people, Moses defaulted to the same tactic that had worked miraculously with the first generation assuming that it would be as effective for the third generation.

What force had accomplished 40 years before, was no longer an effective motivator. God wanted him to model a kinder, gentler, contemporary and forward leaning modality of leadership. Speaking to the rock, might have been a metaphor for praying with anticipation. Seeing the water flow in response to the conversation may have been God’s method of manifesting effective human connection to His power, much like when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray.

It is always good to know what time it is. It was time for a generational shift. Fortunately, Moses had been grooming some younger people for leadership. He may not have anticipated that the change would come so soon, but he was prepared.

Who and how are you preparing people in your family and field for their turns to lead?

If you are younger, who and how are you choosing and serving your mentors?

Succession planning requires a balance of remembering and forgetting. Generational shifting requires a balance of dreaming and doing. In a subsequent devotional, I will share some thoughts on how those four poles of preparation can be applied in your life. 

For today, I’m leaving you with this nugget of wisdom: Listen to the voice of Divinity (God) and do what you hear.

~*~
Author Bio:

Chaplain Anderson served for 20 years as a U.S. Navy Chaplain. Over 26 years of active duty, he was promoted through the ranks from Seaman Apprentice (E2) to his final rank as Commander (O5) in the Chaplain’s Corps.

Prior to his Naval career, Chaplain Anderson pastored in the Allegheny East and Potomac Conferences of Seventh-day Adventists. His undergraduate preparation for ministry was completed at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md.

He has subsequently earned four graduate degrees: a Master of Divinity from Andrews University in Michigan, a Master of Education in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland and a Masters of Sacred Theology in Religion and Culture from Boston University. His Doctor of Ministry degree was conferred by Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Chaplain Anderson also completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He also holds certifications in Suicide Awareness and Prevention, Civil Mediation, Alternative Workplace Dispute Resolution, Temperament Analysis, Marriage Enrichment, Workforce Diversity, and is a certified Life Coach.

You may connect with Chaplain Anderson via email at this address, psanderson75@gmail.com.