Deuteronomy 8:2-5
2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.
Discipline. I don't like the word. I prefer words like "pleasure" and "blessing". But we can't avoid it, for "the Lord your God disciplines you" (verse 5). Why? For the same reason that we discipline our children: so they will learn. This is why God "humbled" the Israelites: to teach them to rely on God (verse 3). This is why God disciplines and humbles us: to teach us, so that we can grow and overcome our weaknesses. To be in recovery we need to learn discipline, we need to learn how to humbly choose the difficult way, relying on God for strength (as the Israelites did in the desert). The wandering journey of the Israelites in the desert has many parallels with our typical journey in recovery: They came from a sick, twisted system (slavery in Egypt), and were initially excited about the possibility of freedom (leaving Egypt), but then they were disillusioned by how difficult the journey was (hunger in the desert) and wanted to go back to their sick old ways (back to Egypt); those who gave up perished in the desert, but those who persevered in hope and humility were able to enter the promised land of freedom and blessing.
Heavenly Father, there are times when I want to "go back to Egypt", to avoid the pain and effort of recovery. But You know what is best for me, so help me to humbly accept your discipline and to persevere.
2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.
Discipline. I don't like the word. I prefer words like "pleasure" and "blessing". But we can't avoid it, for "the Lord your God disciplines you" (verse 5). Why? For the same reason that we discipline our children: so they will learn. This is why God "humbled" the Israelites: to teach them to rely on God (verse 3). This is why God disciplines and humbles us: to teach us, so that we can grow and overcome our weaknesses. To be in recovery we need to learn discipline, we need to learn how to humbly choose the difficult way, relying on God for strength (as the Israelites did in the desert). The wandering journey of the Israelites in the desert has many parallels with our typical journey in recovery: They came from a sick, twisted system (slavery in Egypt), and were initially excited about the possibility of freedom (leaving Egypt), but then they were disillusioned by how difficult the journey was (hunger in the desert) and wanted to go back to their sick old ways (back to Egypt); those who gave up perished in the desert, but those who persevered in hope and humility were able to enter the promised land of freedom and blessing.
Heavenly Father, there are times when I want to "go back to Egypt", to avoid the pain and effort of recovery. But You know what is best for me, so help me to humbly accept your discipline and to persevere.