“Small daily practices accrue over time and become transformative.”
Our Father wants to move us beyond what we know about Him to actually being transformed by what we know. In accomplishing this goal, He sometimes allows us to experience a sense of emptiness.
This is what He did with me. (Last week’s entry.) In this case, He wanted the truth that He is the God of heaven and earth to sink into my character. He knows that where He is taking me, my prayer life would have to reflect this truth both in waiting for to Him act and in insights into how to pray against the forces who want to block His purposes.
The LORD did this with the Israelites. Abraham knew his God was the God of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:22). Maybe his descendants knew the story behind his belief (he defeated a four king coalition with only 318 men to rescue his nephew) in their head.
If they didn’t, they had front row seats to see this truth in action. They saw the God of heaven and earth defeat Egypt, the earthly superpower at that time, without one Israelite lifting a sword.
They may have had the story in their head, but they surely saw it with their eyes. Would this truth now make the transition from their head to their heart through faith steps in their personal choices?
So, the Lord tested them: without water and bread in the middle of the desert, would they ask the God of heaven and earth to provide both? Or, would they stay stuck in their head knowledge about Him (Deut. 8:2)?
Water comes from heaven in the form of rain clouds. Bread starts from seeds planted in the earth. If the LORD is the God of heaven and earth, He could supply both, even in unorthodox ways, correct? All they had to do, then, was ask, “LORD, we are out of water and bread. How do You want to supply it?”
Again and again they chose not to believe He could fill their emptiness, their hunger. And so, they missed where He was taking them. In this case, it was the Promised Land.
What about Him is He asking to develop into your character to prepare you for what He has for you? Take steps, even small ones, each day to let it change you. Eventually, your life will be transformed by it. I am and am.