THE SAME ROUTINE DAY AFTER DAY

Have you noticed how time flies with this Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) we are going through?  Most of us, if not all of us, are going through the same routine day by day.  That's the story of my ECQ  life - I wake up, prepare my brewed coffee, sit down in my "prayer seat" and read God's Word, meditate upon it, pray.  And then I spend the day how to minister to a church I don't actually see, and then after that listen to music, after that watch tv, check the news, binge on a tv series I missed in the past.  Check on my wife and the kids, and realize we're all doing the same thing day after day, the same routine.

It was morning...and then evening.  Another day passing by.

Actually, there was one day when I actually forgot what day it was!  I was sitting, waiting for one of my favorite shows to come out, until my daughter tells me "Dad, that was yesterday", and starts laughing.  I laughed also.  It made my day.  I actually forgot what day it was!

That's how routine and monotonous our days have become.

And I'm sure, like me, a thought passes by our minds everyday, saying "when is this going to end?".  Of course who doesn't want this to end.  Our "normal" has been changed.  We've been stripped of our everyday routines.  I guess it's normal for us to be praying that God bring an end to this unique ECQ experience.  

But through it all, what should also come to our minds is "what is God teaching me in this experience?".  Why is He bringing us through this ECQ (aside of course from protecting us from a virus, and our helping the nation by not being an instrument in making it spread).  What is God teaching us as His people, His church?

It reminded me of the Israelites, when God delivered them from Egypt, and had them travel for forty years through the wilderness as He brought them to the promised land.  The Lord could have shortened the travel.  It could have been just a few days.  But He chose to have them travel for forty years.  Forty years!  When they were hungry and grumbled that they had not food, God provided manna for them every morning.  They were given exactly what they needed for that day.  When they were thirsty, God had Moses strike a rock, or "cleanse" a pool of water that was contaminated.

Day after day, for forty years, that's all they saw, all they experienced.  And, unlike us, they ate the same thing again and again for forty years (think about that before you complain and grumble).

Talk about the same routine day after day... And that for forty years!  Why would God bring them through that experience?  There were a number of reasons why, but one of them comes to mind:

Deuteronomy 8:2-5  "You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.  (3)  "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers 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.  (4)  "Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.  (5)  "Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.

First, it was "that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not."

The circumstance we are in always reveals what is in our hearts.  God wanted to know if the Israelites would obey Him, even if He had them go through the wilderness for forty years.

What is it in our hearts that God is exposing through this ECQ experience?  Are we continually obeying Him, without question?  Or, are we beginning to grumble and complain, and anxiously praying that God brings an end to this lockdown? If you think of it, grumbling and complaining is a form of disobedience, a disobedience of the heart.  Why?  Because grumbling and complaining is questioning God's sovereignty over our life in bringing us through this experience.  

The second reason God humbled His people:

"He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers 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.

Man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.  It's not what we are eating that is important.  What should have been important for the Israelites was the word of the Lord - that He would take care of them, that they were not to worry or be anxious, that He would never leave them or forsake them.  That promise, that word, is not dependent on HOW He does it...it's just dependent on His Word.

We can go through a day with little food, and be content.  We can go through a day with lots of food, and be content.  We can go through a day with no food, and yet be content.  Content that we have a God who has promised that He would never leave us or forsake us.

That's how God wanted the Israelites to go through the forty years of wilderness travel, eating manna every morning.  He wanted them to have hearts of worship and obedience.  He wanted them to have hearts that were so content with God and His words, that it did not matter if it they had manna every morning for forty years.

And then there's verse 4 - "Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

I wonder if they realized it - after forty years of traveling their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.  God took care of them, sustained, them, and brought them to the promised land.

How we miss those simple blessings of our God.  We complain about being cooped up in our homes, about our not being able to go to the mall, or be with friends or churchmates, about not having the freedom to go out when we want to.  But do we see that through this experience, day by day, whether we have plenty or we lack things, that God has been sustaining us through it all, day by day?

(5)  "Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.

Do we see this experience as God disciplining us?  Not disciplining us as a punishment, but disciplining us for maturity, for us to have the right heart before Him.  He is our Father, and as His children He wants us to grow with the right heart, the right perspective of life.

I guess this is what we need - another perspective of what's happening with us today with this ECQ experience.  Are we beginning to grumble and complain?  Are we praying that God bring an end to this and bring us back to our "normal" life?

Or have we forgotten that the "normal" for a believer is that "man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Do we rejoice that through this experience God has been sustaining us, taking care of us, despite the virus and lockdown we are experiencing?

Are we thankful that we have a heavenly Father who is disciplining us, making sure we are going through life with the right heart, the right attitude, a right perspective - one that glorifies Him and in line with the kingdom that He is preparing us for.

Remember, God is also bringing us through a wilderness journey in this life.  And we have a promised land waiting for us - eternity, eternal life with Him.  And in eternity it's going to be all about God.  It's not about the place, or what we will enjoy - it's all about Him.  And it's going to be the same day after day after day.

We're just being prepared to enjoy eternity with the One who redeemed us.