Fugitive of a Hardened Heart

It has been my prayer throughout reading this book that we would all come to see jealousy as a symptom of a broken heart.  Somewhere, we have come to believe the lie that our God is not trustworthy in His justice towards us.  The fallout of the untruth is that we cannot believe that God loves us, because our idea of His goodness has been skewed by life's difficult and inexplicable circumstances.

This scripture gives us the reason for our blindness in seeing the glory of God in our own lives:
Hebrews 12:14-15 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

We can make the false assumption that the secret sin of jealousy is contained to our thoughts, hidden away from others.  Scripture assures us that this is not the case.  The moment we detect the bitterness of jealousy entering our thoughts, we must take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ.  If we do not, we are in danger of not seeing the Lord. We must intently examine our thought lives, to ensure there is no place for a bitter root to grow.

Heart Builders:

• How has jealousy made you fugitive, either as its perpetrator or its victim?

Exerts from our book - Living with Unmet Desires

The Hard Work of Waiting

Have you ever found yourself somewhere you weren't supposed to be? Or working somewhere and doing something that you didn't intend to be doing, @ this point in your life? This can be a very frustrating place to be, and it truly can affect our attitudes.

As I searched the scriptures for answers, I began to notice how distorted my attitude had become. I was focusing on my past accomplishments and the ministry I hoped to have. Why has God put me on hold? Why aren't I doing what I want? Did I hear God then? Are my desires now, totally off?

Moses had the best educaiton and training that was available in his day, yet he found himself a few years later out in the desert tending sheep. To the obvious, he was doing a job that he was clearly over-qualified for. For 40 yrs, he tended a flock that belonged to someone else....Have you been there?

We could look at this period of Moses' life as a waste of time, but in reality, it was a time of transition and preparation. Unknown to him, he was learning the ways of the desert, the ways of surviving in the heat and sand, because he was going to re-visit the desert again....years later (and for a much longer period).

I wonder how often, when he later led the children of Israel through the wilderness, he must have looked back at that earlier tiresome period and seen its value. It prepared him for leadership, endurance, in ways the best schools in Egypt couldn't have.

Ladies, we have the responsibility to pursue what God wants to teach us during this time of seeming inactivity. Our usefulness is not contingent on our education, our family or our possessions, but is dependent on our willingness to be used in whatever surroundings the Lord places us in.

Waiting Builders:

• When has your relationship with God encountered a "desert" period? How did you respond in that situation?
• What positive consequences can you identify as a result of going through a dry or difficult time in your life?

Exodus 2:11-3:10