Heat waves in Chennai are something that cannot be easily forgotten by people who have experienced them. I used to tell my friend that I feel like I am walking between hot pots when I walk on the road. The city has become a kitchen full of heat waves. One can literally feel the hot waves rubbing against the face while walking the streets. When we think about the Israelites walking in the desert, we know it must have been horrible. Was it horrible? But here is a God who allowed them the wilderness and walked with them as a cloud during the daytime and as a fire during the nighttime. We know that the only shelter we seek during summer is the air conditioner. But here, God is giving them a natural solution to walk on the path that was laid before them.
Exodus 13:21: "By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night."
Those of us who are walking in the desert season will know that God has given us the special grace to face it, to walk through it. We see fire around us, but we are protected under the clouds; nothing can touch us because we have the fourth person who walks in the midst of fire with us. Another beautiful thing about the wilderness is that as much as there is no way to buy new flashy things, God made it so there was no need for them. Which clothes shop, butcher shop, biryani shop, or sandal shop could the Israelites find in the desert? . God literally led them in such a way that there was no need for them to search for one. He was their supplier in the desert. He met their needs supernaturally.
It was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, Exodus 16:8
As much as buying new refrigerators, washing machines, clothes, and sandals sounds like a blessing to us, it is also a blessing when God miraculously prolongs the life of the old fridge and the little washing machine. It is indeed a miracle. God ensures you literally don't end up on Amazon looking for things but turn to Him as He trains you to receive provisions supernaturally in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 29:5: "I have led you in the wilderness forty years; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet."
When God wants us to occupy extraordinary blessings, He makes us walk through the desert and trains us to trust in Him alone to receive everything—from chicken biryani to the big stuff. The important thing we learn is to depend on Him, not on our own hands, for anything and everything. The same God who makes us walk through the desert is also able to lead us out of the desert with a giant faith that overcomes the giants in the land. Attending exams is to understand our level of understanding of the subject so that we can move into a higher grade, a promotion. Our desert season, walking through fires and waters, will end when we pass the faith test that is laid before us. We will finally say,
"Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff reassure me," as in Psalm 23:4.
Dear God, thank you for being with us as a cloud when we needed to be protected from the fire around us. Thank you for making us cross the Red Sea, and thank you for training us to look to your presence, your hand, for everything we needed. Thank you for walking with us and helping us to strengthen our faith in you. You have tested us in the furnace, and you are going to make us shine like gold. Thank you for holding our hands throughout this path; in every step, we were never left alone. We love you, Lord. In Jesus' name, we thank you. Amen.
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