The Book of Numbers has long been known as such because it begins and ends with a census of Israel. However, the Hebrew name for this book, “In the Wilderness,” perhaps better describes what the book is about. While in the wilderness, God’s people experienced not only God’s kindness and patience but also His holy discipline. They would learn that their new freedom from Egyptian bondage included the responsibility to serve and obey God. Let’s look closer as we experience the wilderness.
All of us wish that our recovery from sin would involve a dramatic escape from slavery and immediate entrance into the Promised Land. (At least at first thought.) Most of us would love to leave out that wilderness experience between. But growth and recovery occur within the wilderness. It is in the wilderness that we come to terms with who we really are. It is in the wilderness that we discover faith and the reality of God’s faithfulness and patience. In the wilderness we discover that we cannot make it alone, that we need to turn our life and our will over to the One True God and depend on Him.
Faith is the opposite of self-sufficiency. The Israelites were confronted daily with the fact that if left to their own abilities, they would die in the wilderness. They were forced to live one day at a time, acting on their faith that God would provide what they needed each day. They needed a practical faith; a faith that looked to God for safety, food and even health. When we enter the wilderness experiences of recovery from our sin, we need the same practical faith that allows us to live one day at a time.
The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because they believed the report of the 10 faithless scouts instead of God’s promises to deliver them from their enemies. Each wilderness step they took should have reminded them that they were responsible for their predicament. Most of them, however, chose to blame God and Moses instead. They refused to admit the truth: that they were wandering because of their own choices.
We, too, are in our present circumstances because of choices we have made. We need to take personal responsibility for our life if we desire to progress along the road of recovery from sin. We would love to see you at Celebrate Recovery Tuesday nights at 6:30 p.m. No matter what your wilderness experience is, CR with God’s truth is here for you.
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