Message: Deuteronomy 1 is a basic recap of Israel’s
journey from captivity in Egypt to the promised land. An 11 day trip that was
drawn out to 40 years because of their complaining, unbelief and refusal enter
the promise God had for them. Through each problem they repeatedly told
themselves and each other that it was better in Egypt and that Moses had led them
out there to die. They were the enemy of their own progress because of what
they believed and they continued to believe it because they continuously spoke
it.
Command: Speak an inner narrative that
empowers. Not one that sets us back to familiar ways.
Promise: God has good plans in store for us.
Warning: If we repeat a negative and familiar
narrative, we will believe it and God will hold us accountable for it.
Application: For Israel, familiarity was their comfort. We are not much
different. There is comfort in predictability even when that predictability is
bondage. If we don’t know what to expect we fear the unknown. The unknown can
be so terrifying that we are willing to suffer with what we do know because we
have a narrative that we have literally spoken to ourselves over and over again.
We have spoken it so many times that we
believe it. Imagine what could have been if they had changed that spoken
narrative! My challenge to myself today is to identify the things I believe God
has promised, and then examine my inner thoughts to see if they contradict.
