that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
—Psalm 30:11-12
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
—Psalm 86:11
For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
—Joshua 4:23-24
Emotional maturity allows a person—or a people—to distinguish between an inconvenience and a true emergency.
From late Genesis to early Joshua, the Israelites faced both. Eating manna without onions was a mild inconvenience, at worst. (For those of us who are not fans of raw onion, it sounds more like a blessing!) Being trapped between the sea and the pursuing Egyptian army was an emergency. But only until the presence of the Lord is taken into account.
Spiritual maturity allows a person—or a people—to turn from "That wasn't so bad!" or "Hey, look what we did!" to Samuel's declaration “Till now the Lord has helped us” in the face of true emergencies.
We have quite a few figures of speech about seeming to have no good options: "on the horns of a dilemma", "between a rock and a hard place", "out of the frying pan into the fire", or the more modern "burning platform". And some people are willing to use a false declaration of a burning platform to manipulate others. But the Lord's people face every situation taking into account the presence and purposes of the Lord.
The Lord did not provide Israel a path through the sea or the Jordan river so that they could look back and say "That wasn't so bad!" or "Hey, look what we did!". And He didn't do it so that they could just forget the past or try to rewrite their own history. Instead, the Israelites were to remember and fear and trust and follow the Lord wholeheartedly. And they were to give Him the glory.
After the Flood
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
—Psalm 29:10
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
—Psalm 30:11-12
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
—Psalm 86:11
For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
—Joshua 4:23-24
Emotional maturity allows a person—or a people—to distinguish between an inconvenience and a true emergency.
From late Genesis to early Joshua, the Israelites faced both. Eating manna without onions was a mild inconvenience, at worst. (For those of us who are not fans of raw onion, it sounds more like a blessing!) Being trapped between the sea and the pursuing Egyptian army was an emergency. But only until the presence of the Lord is taken into account.
Spiritual maturity allows a person—or a people—to turn from "That wasn't so bad!" or "Hey, look what we did!" to Samuel's declaration “Till now the Lord has helped us” in the face of true emergencies.
We have quite a few figures of speech about seeming to have no good options: "on the horns of a dilemma", "between a rock and a hard place", "out of the frying pan into the fire", or the more modern "burning platform". And some people are willing to use a false declaration of a burning platform to manipulate others. But the Lord's people face every situation taking into account the presence and purposes of the Lord.
The Lord did not provide Israel a path through the sea or the Jordan river so that they could look back and say "That wasn't so bad!" or "Hey, look what we did!". And He didn't do it so that they could just forget the past or try to rewrite their own history. Instead, the Israelites were to remember and fear and trust and follow the Lord wholeheartedly. And they were to give Him the glory.