Since our congregation has recently moved into our new church, we have started a new series of messages titled “Here we are! Are we here?” It has been a great series and application as we step out in faith into our new building. Even greater and more powerful is that God is speaking to ME concerning the great and awesome journey of restoration He’s taking all of us on!

The first message in our series was on the passage of Exodus 14:10-14
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

The first verses are so much like many of us on our restoration journey. We tend to look at our circumstances (our Egyptians) instead of the Promises from God for deliverance. Using the entire story of Moses and the Israelites, we know that God DID come through on His promise! But when He originally brought the Israelites out of slavery, He did not take them directly to the Promise land, because He knew the WHOLE story. God knew that if He fully delivered them right then, when they faced opposition, they would crumble and run back to the things they knew best; they would run back to serving the Egyptians. But God had much better plans for the Israelites that they could not see. He knew that by taking them into the wilderness, He would take them through trials. And each trial they faced would refine and mold them into the people He had always planned for them to be as they entered the Promise land; people that would bring forth the greater Glory for Him. The same is true for all of us as we journey in the wilderness of our marriage restoration. God HAS promised us a great and glorious restoration. But He will take us through trials as we journey; none of them are meant to harm us, but are meant to perfect our future of hope and prosperity as He promises in Jeremiah 29:11. If God were to immediately bring forth our restorations; any time we faced a trial, we might revert back to our old ways. But God has a greater plan for us and He wants to bless and use us for His glory!!! So rather than grumble and be afraid that God will not come forth on His promises, we are to do just as Moses told the Israelites; we are NOT to be afraid! God has us COMPLETELY covered. We should “stand firm” and “be still” during this time. God has great and awesome things for us to learn and grow in. He sees our entire future and already has it all laid out, so HE KNOWS exactly how to get us right where He needs us to bring forth the restoration He promises to deliver!

Yesterday at church, the second part of our study was on Isaiah 43:16-19, which says This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. This is a different generation from that in the Exodus passage. These were not the people that God originally took out of Egypt and then took through the Red Sea. However, the parting of the Red Sea was a miracle that had been talked about and handed down through the generations, and these people knew of God’s awesome miracle. So God begins to speak directly to the Israelites by calling to their attention the power and glory He had previously displayed. And then He tells them to forget it; “forget the past.” With such an awesome and powerful miracle, why would God want them to forget it? Then God tells them why. What He had previously done is nothing in comparison to the NEW THING He was bringing forth.

Picking back up on the comparison of these passages to our restoration journey, God has told us that we were to “stand firm” and “be still” as He leads us through our Red Sea of trials while He “extinguished snuffed out like a wick” our Egyptians of circumstances. Now God is telling us to forget our past; that the past marriage and the miracle of the union between us, our spouse and God should be forgotten. It is in the past and it is no longer attainable. As we see glimpses of what “use to be,” we must remember that it isn’t and we shouldn’t react in the same way! God tells us to forget it because what He is bringing forth new is going to be better than we could ever imagine!!! God has and is taking us through our trials so we will be better equipped to see, receive and glorify Him in the miracle He has waiting for us. As God delivers us, He will bring forth a new and better miracle of union between us, our spouse and God; one that is so wonderful and glorious that we couldn’t even begin to imagine it! So as we get excited when reading all of the wonderful Praise reports from FAM members about how God is moving, that is NOTHING compared to the great, awesome and glorious new thing He is bringing forth! It will only get better and better!!!

As we left church yesterday, our Pastor indicated what passage He would finish out our series with, but all I can remember is that it was in 1 Corinthians; perhaps chapter 2. I was going to wait until then to finish this post; however, I felt a nudge to finish it today. So as I looked in 1 Corinthians 2, I asked God to bring to my attention the verse that completed all that He wanted me to share. within moments, God answered that prayer; the entire chapter sums it all up. Verse 1-5 speaks of how he is just a man that came to them with no knowledge. And that’s probably the truth for all of us as we began our journey of restoration. We knew nothing as to what it truly meant to be married and to serve God and nothing about standing and marriage restoration. Then, just as the chapter continues, the Spirit of God comes forth and teaches us things in our trials, making us one in the mind of Christ. We all share our trials, teachings and the glorious Praises with each other in our posts as we travel the journey. But it is not our words that cause things to move; it is the Spirit of God that is so evident here in FAM that ultimately teaches us and leads us. So as we turn our eyes, ears and hearts toward God, we all must “stand firm,” “be still,” know that God is “doing a new thing” and that it will be just as it says in 1 Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”

Posted Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 11:41 pm in Seeds Of Faith.