July 16, 2022 8:00 pm
You might start your journey in the southwest United States in a dusty town called Why, Arizona. Heading cross-country would take you through Uncertain, Texas. Bearing northeast, you’d make a rest stop in Dismal, Tennessee. Ultimately, you’d reach your destination—Panic, Pennsylvania. These are real places across the landscape of America, though not likely a trip you’d ever choose to take.
Sometimes this is exactly what the journey of life feels like. We easily identify with the Israelites’ tough life in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 2:7)—life can be hard. But do we see the other parallels? We create our own itinerary, turning from God’s way (1:42). Like the Israelites, we often grumble about getting our needs met (Numbers 14:2). In our daily fretting, we likewise doubt God’s purposes (v. 11). The story of the Israelites is repeated over and over in our own.
God assures us that if we follow His path, He’ll deliver us into a far better place than Dismal. He’ll provide and we’ll lack nothing we really need (2:7; Philippians 4:19). Yet much as we already know this, we often fail to do it. We need to follow God’s roadmap.
It’s a bit more of a drive, but another six hours by car would take you from the town of Panic to the place known as Assurance, West Virginia. If we let God direct our paths (Psalm 119:35), we’ll journey in joy with Him at the wheel—blessed assurance indeed!
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. The devotional for today titled, Traveling Mercies, was written by Kenneth Peterson. You might start your journey in the Southwest United States in a dusty town called Wye, Arizona. Heading cross country would take you through uncertain Texas. Bearing northeast, you'd make a rest stop in Dismal, Tennessee. Ultimately, you'd reach your destination, Panic, Pennsylvania.
These are real places across the landscape of America, though not likely a trip you'd ever choose to take. Sometimes this is exactly what the journey of life feels like. We easily identify with the Israelites' tough life in the wilderness. Life can be hard, but do we see the other parallels? We create our own itinerary, turning from God's way. In our daily fretting, we likewise doubt God's purposes.
The story of the Israelites is repeated over and over in our own. God assures us that if we follow His path, He'll deliver us into a far better place than Dismal. He'll provide and we'll lack nothing we really need. Yet as much as we already know this, we often fail to do it. We need to follow God's roadmap.
It's a bit more of a drive, but another six hours by car would take you from the town of Panic to the place known as Assurance, West Virginia. If we let God direct our paths, we'll journey in joy with Him at the wheel. Blessed Assurance, indeed.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is taken from the second chapter of Deuteronomy, verses one through seven. The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.
Let's pray. Lord, you are a faithful God, and though we've committed to following you, we have to confess that we often still wander off without even considering where you are leading us. When we wander off, would you please draw us back to you and put us back on the path you've mapped out for us. Help us to trust your direction, even when we can't see or understand. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Wes Ward, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-03-23 13:28:55 / 2023-03-23 13:30:18 / 1
