The Wilderness of Pleas

“And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:” (Eze 20:35-37 AV)

 

This morning, when I read this, I could not help by feeling so blessed that God would plead with me.  To what the prophet is speaking is God’s practice of reasoning with His people over steps of faith or correction.  There is also a wilderness into which the child of God must enter.  This wilderness is a time, place, or circumstance that reduces the saint to the event itself.  It defines him.  These times are times of major adjustment.  Israel had to learn to trust the LORD as they never had trusted Him before.  These times of major change are not easy.  But the LORD brings us to them so that we can pass under the rod of His correction or guidance.  The rod of a shepherd that prods and pokes the sheep along the path of His design. A rod is also a symbol of an unchanging standard.  When Jesus comes back, He will rule with a rod of iron.  In short, the LORD removes us to a time, place, or set of circumstances and pleads with us to conform to a perfect standard that will glorify Him and bless us.  What I appreciate is the LORD’s love for me that motivates His plea towards me.

Over the years, I have had several pastors who invested themselves in me.  But I only had one who would take me into the wilderness.  There was plenty of advice from them all, but most were encouraging statements rather than the advice I needed to hear but didn’t want to hear.  There were two times that I can remember that a pastor said something I needed to hear, but I didn’t want to hear.  The first had little merit.  He thought I let my children run the house.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  What he saw as complacency on my part was actually patience.  There are times when you do not hop right on your kid because the lesson he is about to learn will be a harder one that you can teach him.  However, the second time was with a pastor as we sat with a cup of coffee in a state restore overlooking lake Michigan.  As we sat and talked, he made an observation about my leadership.  It was really hard to hear.  The painful thing about it was, that he was right.  And there was little I could do about it.  He pointed out a tendency I had that if gone unchecked, would lead to serious issues in the future.  These issues, if not addressed, would limit my opportunities in the ministry.  This pastor, although he would have preferred not to, brought me out to the wilderness and brought me under the rod.  It was easy to see that his motive was love.  He cared about me enough to tell me the hard things.

This is what a loving God does.  He brings us out to the wilderness and brings us under the rod.  He separates us from all the distractions of life and focuses on a specific area of life that needs some major adjustment.  He loves us too much to leave us to ourselves.  When Israel was in Egypt, they allowed their captives to change who and what they were.  They allowed the gods of a strange country to reimage them after the pattern of unbelievers.  They became accustomed to the bondage to the point that as long as their captors provided their basic needs, they surrendered all that God wanted them to be.  In the wilderness, it was a matter of faith.  The LORD wanted them to trust Him and take risks of faith to the end they would grow into a mighty nation.  They had to learn God was able and capable of meeting their every need and whatever it was He asked them to do, it would turn out ok.  He removed them to the wilderness and brought them under the rod.  I am so glad.  These times are not comfortable.  But these times are golden.  Thank You Jesus for loving me enough to remove me to the wilderness and bring me under the rod.