This is a message I sent the Ladies at their convention in Eldoret, Kenya in Dec of 2004. I think it explains a very important topic. Nita

 

Some time ago a dear friend (who is now on a Mission in a remote area of Alaska) once shared a nugget from God’s word with me and I want to share it with you while you are at your Ladies Convention in Kenya, East Africa.

 

First of all it fits all of us who are on life’s journey and when we ask ourselves why is life the way it is, why do we hunger, why do we suffer, why do we long, why aren’t my prayers heard, why do children suffer? Have I not prayed long enough or consistent enough? I know it is not because God’s love is too short or His compassion is limited, so why are there such hardships and suffering in this life? 

 

I want you to read from God’s word why the Ancient ones of Israel wandered for 40 years in the dry desert land where there was no food or water. There were no supplies of any kind in this land that they could use.  It would seem it would all be pointless all this wandering, setting up camp, tear it down, only to set it up once again. This was a huge multitude of people who left Egypt to enter the “promised land” but it never seemed to come. We know it was due to sin they committed while Moses left to face God on the Mountain, in this land, that seemed God forsaken.  So why is it they had to set up camp only to tear it down again, wash clothes, dry them, wash clothes again & do dishes, only to wash them again and again?

 

Years ago I did a study on this camp of the Israelites and I thought of some interesting things including all the daily duties of the women that would be required in a days work for them. In addition to the meals that God provided on the desert floor, in which they made bread, were the dishes to wash. And remember the wood to gather for the fire, to bake the bread.

 

If you have ever seen an Israelite tent they were made of sheep, goat & ram type skins they had hand scraped & dried to cure for the rugs on the floor to keep them away from the sandy floors. The skins would help keep the tent clean from the endless desert winds and keep them nice and warm. But can you imagine packing them all up, the next time the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire moved? This also meant they also would need to pack up all the household belongings and move on with it.

 

I noticed in this study that the various tribes always camped on the same side of the Tabernacle. See Numbers chapter 2 there you will see the tribe of Dan was always camped on the north side of the Tabernacle & was next to the tribes of Asher & Naphtali. So cousins had continuity and could develop relationships for work and play. They at least had neighbors that were consistent, even if then neighborhood was not.  

 

Often we like to put blame on Satan and make him responsible for our dry and thirsty times. I am sure they did too as we know they murmured. They were just as human as you and I. They had wants dreams and desires and I am sure their desire was not to walk continually in a dry desert land. After all they had a promise of a land that flowed with milk and honey.

 

So what was the purpose of this 40-year journey for the Israelites of old? The Bible says: 

 

Deut 8:2

“And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not”. NAS

 

I see here in this verse the reasoning for the wandering and the journey was:

So that “He might humble you & test you,”

 

Why this humbling and testing?

“To know what was in your heart

& see whether you would keep His commandments or not”

 

We know the Commands of the Old Testament and the Old Covenant for the Israelites of old. But I want to ask: What is His New Testament command for us who walk with God?

 

Matt 22:36-40

36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him,  "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." NAS

  

 

My conclusion my dear sisters in Christ in East Africa is this:

·       Love God with all that is in you!

·       Obey all He asks of you in His word!

·       So that your joy may be made full! (this means it is not here yet)

 

In Rom 8:17 we see:

“…if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” NAS

 

That is our end result “that we may also be glorified with Him.” And that is the “ joy may be made full” What greater joy than to be together with the Lord?

 

So think of all your daily duties as “joy”.  James said when referring to trials--- for they are building you into something for the Kingdom of Heaven. We may not see “joy full” here in this world but we have the promise and it is “for those who will endure to the end.”

 

 

So continue on ladies in Christ, do what the Lord has asked of you to do and some of that is doing your dishes, sweeping your floors, doing your laundry and tending your children day after day—day after day—day after day. And James said:

“Count it all joy”