April 27, 2012
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Knowing Your Inheritance and Learning God’s Rest
In Deuteronomy 2 there is a long account of Israel’s journey through the wilderness into the Promised Land. Moses speaks about how they passed through Edom, but it wasn’t their inheritance and they weren’t allowed to mess with the people there. He says the same for other countries they pass through. Throughout their journey God gives them very clear details about the boundaries of their inheritance. In those areas God will give them victory and bless them abundantly. But God warns them that if they try and touch land God has not given them (such as Edom) that God will not bless them in any way. It was crucial for Israel to know their inheritance.
I believe it is the same for all of us. God has specific callings and inheritances for each of us. And if we walk with Him, submitting to His authority and to the spiritual authorities He places over us, then we can be sure He will eventually lead us into the inheritance. The problem is that we live in the microwave/fast food generation. We want to know and receive our inheritance NOW. And if we don’t know it, then we tend to try many things. And for those who still can’t figure things out, many of them tend to go back to grad school or back to a former life (which for many was their Egypt, not their Promised Land). And years go by without any discovery of what their inheritance really is.
The problem is, so many in our generation are going into lands like Edom that were never meant to be our inheritance. And so God can’t bless us. So we keep running around without the patience to wait on the Lord for His timing. And as we run around we find ourselves restless and burned out. And we wonder why…
To truly rest is simply to walk with God in submission to Him and the spiritual authorities He has put over us. God works all things for our good, right? As a loving Father and blessed Creator, God knows and wants the best for us, right? If we truly believe these things, then we are able to rest. Because we know that even when we miss what God is speaking to us, in His grace He will speak through our spiritual authorities (specifically our spiritual father/mother, or main spiritual authority) what we need to hear. And if we don’t get the answer right away, then we can REST and wait on Him. It was just as important for the Israelites to NOT MOVE when God’s Spirit wasn’t moving as it was to be moving when His Spirit was moving. We have to learn to be at peace and be patient both when God is leading us and when He is telling us to stay where we are and wait.
The Sabbath was critical for Israel before Jesus came. It was meant to teach the Israelites to rest and to trust in God for their provision and care. And I believe we are still to live under God’s rest, always looking to Him for the provision, guidance, and care we need.
God bless!
