Father, forgive me that the focus of my life these days has been totally on myself. Self-absorption is a subtle thing– how crafty of Satan to use it to distract us from the things that matter most, such as, praise, worship, service to the needy and hurting, the sharing of the gospel, prayer, and the testifying of Your faithfulness.
Your children, the Israelites, were self-absorbed. It was all about them: their hunger, their thirst, their needs, and their survival, me, me, me, and more me. Just like them, I am guilty. Yes, guilty of receiving blessings, answers to prayer and then forgetting or losing sight of your miraculous provisions, and all because I am focused on my next need or desire. Perhaps, I want a quick way out of the desert, as they did.
Self-pity is a form of self- absorption and once again, I am guilty. Oh, how sorry the children of Israel felt for themselves wandering around the desert with no hope in sight. No hope, the lie Satan uses against me. When you travel through the desert all you see for miles and miles is sand. There’s no water or any form of vegetation in sight. We tend to lose hope when we cannot see what we need. Our hope should not be in what we can see, but in the One we cannot see— He has promised to be with us and provide for us. The Lord has gone ahead of us and behind us, just as He did for his children. We are not hopeless despite what Satan tries to tell us. Oh, but we have a great hope. You are our Hope, the Lord our God.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
Self-absorption and self-pity make us pawns in Satan’s hands and also renders us useless to God. Oh, that I could see that God allows the desert times in my life to mold me, to shape me and to reveal how awesome He is! I must beware of the dangers: fear, doubt, hopelessness, self-absorption, and discouragement.
“You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness (desert) these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your father know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. In the wilderness He fed you manna which your father did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.” Deut. 8:2-3 and 16
Father God, your desire is to mold and reshape us, which is why You allow us to wander in the desert. You have not allowed desert times to punish or afflict us, ( nor for self-pity ) but, to lead us out of the desert, as humble people, moldable and useable by You– a people with great hope. May our eyes and hearts be set on You, knowing that our God can do anything for nothing is too difficult for You. Father, in the deserts of this life which You allow me to wander into, may I see You continually leading me. May I remember that You are my hope, my God, the One who never leaves me, the One who knows best and the One who is testing me that I might come forth as pure gold.
Dianne Dougharty
Memphis, Tennessee
October 2010