It Is Time to Be Careful

My nephew says he already doesn’t like 2015. Hey, it’s only been three months. He has had some struggles and disappointments this year but there are still 9 months left. 

When I heard he said that it surprised me. I thought 2015 had been alright for me so far. I feel like I’ve finally come out from under a cloud while climbing out of a slippery deep pit with all my skin peeled off and raw nerves exposed. The last decade has been kind of awful. I’m beginning to feel like the Children of Israel when they entered the Promised Land after years in the wilderness. I’m beginning to feel like the end of the book of Job instead of the beginning.

But I realized I’m in a very dangerous place. This place of ease. This place of no imminent vulnerability. This place of not needing to rely on God for every minute of the day.

Moses had something to say to the people before they crossed over into the easy land “flowing with milk and honey”.

Deuteronomy 8:11- 18

But this is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.  For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!  Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.  Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.  He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’  Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful.

Yes, this goes for me too. Be careful. Don’t forget to depend on the Lord. Even when things are now going my way and I don’t need anything, remember why. God has given me everything I need. He brought me through the worst time of my life. I came out of it with my faith in Him stronger and my dependence greater. I was broken hearted and shattered and He put me back together. I was terrified of the future and He gave me strength to face the next day. I was stripped of everything that I thought gave me security and He comforted and protected me. He did all of this because of His great love for me, little old unimportant me. He did this so that I can never say, “I did this with my own strength and energy.” He did this for me with His strength and power. And He sustains me daily with this authority. Remember this. Don’t get so comfortable that I think I don’t need Him just as much as I needed Him in the worst of times.

Yes, it’s time for me to be careful.

Yes, it’s time to remember from where my strength comes.

Yes, it’s time, more than ever before, to depend on my Lord and savior Jesus Christ; the God who sustains.