FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY!
Part 4
“He will love thee, and bless thee; and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee” Deuteronomy 7:13.
IT IS A LAND WHERE WE MUST RELY UPON GOD
Deuteronomy 11:10-12 says, “For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.”
Egypt is a type of the flesh and the world. In Egypt they relied on the overflow of the Nile River for their irrigation. They stored the water by artificial means and irrigated the fields with treadmills, using their feet. It took human sweat and toil. But in the Promised Land they did not have the Nile River. They had to rely completely on God to provide the rain to grow and harvest their crops.
It is the same in our land of marriage and motherhood. Yes, we have to work hard, but when we do it in our own strength it is to no avail. As we raise our children we have to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and understanding and to help us moment by moment. We have to rely on God to provide for our needs. We are totally cast upon the blessing of God. Psalm 127:1 says, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.”
This is why one of the most important aspects of parenting is prayer—crying out to God for our children; crying out to God for help and wisdom. We cannot do it without Him. But when we trust in Him, we will find that He is absolutely faithful to show us the way and to provide for our needs (Matthew 6:25-34).
Many mothers feel that they need to join their husband in his role of providing for the family because they do not believe God is able to care for them. This is like being back in Egypt, turning the treadmills with our feet. In this Promised Land we must totally rely upon God, a God who cares for us from the beginning of the year until the end! Remember, God’s eyes are upon your land. Why leave the “land” that God has ordained for you and go back to Egypt? Why strive in the workplace, leaving your children and taking your husband’s place when God wants to bless you in your home? (1 Kings 9:3)
IT IS A FRUITFUL LAND (Deuteronomy 6:3)
Wouldn’t it have been terrible for the children of Israel to go into the Promised Land and find it a barren land? That would have been devastating. But our God is a God who delights in fruitfulness and He chose a fruitful land for them.* God was the first real estate agent and He spied out all the lands to find the best land for His people. It was a land of fruitfulness that brought forth an abundance of grapes, figs, pomegranates, corn, wine, wheat, barley oil and honey. Ezekiel 20:6 RAV says, “I lifted up my hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out (spied out) for them, flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands.”
I remember years ago traveling from Egypt through the Sinai desert to Israel. The moment we entered the borders of Israel we beheld orange groves growing prolifically. It was the same desert land but with hard work and irrigation the land was blossoming. For years the land lay desolate with deserts and malarial swamps but since Israel became a nation in 1948 it has began to blossom again.
But God not only promised to give an abundance of food but to increase them with children. God wanted His people to fill the land. Deuteronomy 6:3 says, “Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.”
This land of motherhood is a land where we embrace increase. We receive every child as a blessing from God. We don’t endure having children but joyfully embrace them. Jesus said in Matthew 18:5, “Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me.” The word “receive” is not the attitude of “take it or leave it” but an active receiving, “to receive by deliberate and ready reception of what is offered.” (Luke 9:48)
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org
PRAYER:
“Father, thank you that you are watching over our family from the beginning of the year until the end. Please forgive me for relying on my own resources. Teach me how to trust you for all our needs. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
I’ve finished with living the Egyptian way; I’m trusting God’s infinite resources.
* Read all the Scriptures about the Fruitful land:
Leviticus 25:19; 26:4-10; Numbers 13:23-27; Deuteronomy 1:2;5; 7:13; 8:1; 7-9; 28:1-14; 30:5, 16; 11:13-14; Nehemiah 9:25; Psalm 85:12; Isaiah 26:15; 30:23-24; Jeremiah 3:16; 23:3; 34:27; Ezekiel 34:27; 36:8-11; 29-30, 37; Zechariah 8:12 and 10:8.