Devotional Scripture
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” (Exodus 5:1 CSB)
Devotional
Have you ever been in a place where you felt like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong? Or maybe you feel like you’ve done everything right and it just seems like you’re always the one being attacked? You’re in that place and someone is asking you to still give praise and worship to God. I imagine it can be hard to open your mouth and say God is good when life just doesn’t feel good. What’s worst is that if you complain people will say well “you should read your Bible,” or “pray.” As I was reading this passage of Scripture about the Israelites I realized that they’d been forced to live in a place where they were dealt with shrewdly. They were forced into slavery, suffered from the loss of their children when they did absolutely nothing. They’d lived in this place for 430 years according to Exodus 12:40. When I realized that it was in this wilderness that they found the God of our Father, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You see God wanted His people to go into the wilderness, which is described as a desolate or uncultivated place, so that they could find Him. I believe most people sometimes get stuck in this mindset of that this is just the way things are, and begin to adapt to the wilderness. God needed his people to get to a place where there was nothing but a dry, deserted place so they could find Living Water. Ending up in this place can be hard because though things are tough, well it could always be worse. But I’ve learned that worse is sometimes what is needed before we come to the end of what we are capable of and start letting God be God, the Leader and Lord over our lives. It’s when we start to acknowledge that God is Who He say’s that He is and we aren’t capable of saving ourselves. This is when we learn that we can still give Him praise and worship because we know that even when life is beating us up that He has a plan to save us from the Egyptians. He has a plan to rescue us from whatever we are facing today.
Yes, worshiping can be the last thing you feel like doing in your time of need, but its when we worship God that we learn that even when we go down into the depths of the oceans that He has never left nor forsaken you. So, worship in the desolate place. Worship in the good times and the bad time. Worship when we lack wisdom or understanding. Worship when fear tries to rear its ugly head. Worship because we know that all God’s promises are “Yes and Amen.”
Contributed by – Shani Ford
In the midst of my pain I found a God who fiercely sought after me. In 2017 I was in a broken place lost, living without purpose, and wanting to be found. Through the love of God I was able to find a peace that would change a rebel into a righteous women. I am from California, but currently living in Chicago, Illinois. Now walking a path to help change people perspectives on what it means to walk in God’s grace. I believe since I was able to find happiness, and true joy that everyone I encounter should and can find it too. Through The Sanctuary I have been able to grow in my walk while pursing the life that God has called me to.