February 24
Deuteronomy 3-4
To the Israelites, Egypt was a place of slavery.
Egypt was a place of hardship. Egypt was a place of trials. Egypt was a place
of captivity. God had a different view of Egypt. God used the time the
Israelites were in Egypt as an “iron-smelting furnace. God used Egypt as a time
to cleanse the Israelites of their impurities. It was a time to shape them into
the people He was going to call out to take a new land. It was the birthplace
of a new nation of people whom God would use to reveal His goodness, grace, and
power to the other nations.
When we are in the midst of troubles or trials, it
is hard to find any good in the situation. There are times we cannot see an end
to the overwhelming pressures. We wonder if God has forgotten us as we cry out
to Him. Perhaps our trials are “iron-smelting furnaces.” Perhaps our trials are
times God is preparing us, cleansing us, and preparing us for His blessings.
In the midst of the trouble, we can know God is with
us. In the midst of the trials He is our refuge and our strength. God told the
Israelites that if they turned away from Him , they would face trouble, they
would face discipline. But He also told them that if while in exile, "you
seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your
heart and with all your soul." (Deuteronomy 4:29, NIV)
God does not give up on us. He continues to shape us
and form us into the image of Jesus. Sometimes He uses trials, sometimes He
uses discipline, sometimes we wonder where He is in the midst of all that is going
on in our lives. We can be assured that no matter what we are facing, if we
seek God with all our hearts and souls, we will find Him. He is artist shaping
us through the trials to make us more like Jesus.
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