“THAT I MAY TEST THEM!”

 Exodus 16:4                                (ESV)

“[4] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, “THAT I MAY TEST THEM”, whether they will walk in MY law or not.”

In my Bible given to me by my wife of just over six months on August 20, 1984 there are notes handwritten by yours truly on certain passages of Scripture.  Genesis 22:12 says “HE (GOD) said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear GOD, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from ME.”  I wrote in the margin next to “for now I know” these words, “now Abraham knows”!  GOD was growing Abraham’s FAITH. GOD knew that Abraham would obey HIM, but Abraham had to experience “the cost of OBEDIENCE was worth the REWARD of waiting on HIM”!  

Exodus 16:4 was shared recently by another person who shares regularly.  I saw it and about the third time I read it I remembered that GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING!  Could HE be indicating that the Children of Israel needed to SEE that “the cost of OBEDIENCE was worth the REWARD of waiting on HIM”?  Of course we read that NONE of the males over age 20 entered the Promised Land. Their FAITH wasn’t sufficient that GOD was OMNIPOTENT enough to deliver them, despite GODS many PROMISES!  GOD had orchestrated their release from the Egyptians, then swallowed the Egyptians at the bottom of the Red Sea, but they would not TRUST that HE would provide their present nor future, even though HIS WORD had never failed them!  

The Israelites had 40 years of wandering in the wilderness to OPEN their EYES to the TRUTH of GODS PROMISES, but they could never overcome their FEAR of captivity to the Egyptians.  Do I need to let go of my FEARS of “the enemy” in order for GOD to be Glorified in my life?  Could GOD be saying of me that I should “go out and gather a day’s portion every day, “THAT I MAY TEST THEM”???  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, I beg YOU to continue working in my life, increasing my FAITH that when YOU say “THAT I MAY TEST THEM”, I respond with NO FEAR!!!