Finding Grace in the Wilderness
by Jimmy Humphrey
Grace is that precious favor that God grants freely upon those whom He wishes to show His pleasure. Those whom God grants grace are individuals whom He has set His eye upon, and are individuals for whom all heaven will move. Indeed, such individuals are individuals who are in need of that grace in their lives. For them to continue in this life, heaven must respond to them, otherwise they would surely perish from the Earth.
Grace is for those who are empty. Grace is for those who are humble. Grace is for those who are broken. Those who receive grace are the hungry, the thirsty, and those who are naked. They are those who have traveled through the blackest of nights. They are those who have sunken into the pit of despair. Grace is for people who have stumbled through the barren wildernesses.
Grace is not for those who are full. Grace is not for those who are proud. Grace is not for those who have all their ducks in a row. Those who do not receive grace are those who lack hunger, who lack thirst, and who always have the latest in fashion. They are those who live on cloud nine. They are those who jump from mountain top to mountain top. Grace is not for a people who run through green meadows.
Israel as a Divine Object Lesson
Israel has known this experience above all other nations. They have served, and will continue to serve as God’s Divine object lesson for all the Earth, so that we might learn righteousness, and the response God is looking to come from all of us in response to His grace. Time and time again throughout history, God has dealt with this people, and will deal with them unto the end of the age, until His purposes are accomplished.
Thus says the LORD, "The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness-- Israel, when it went to find its rest." (Jeremiah 31:2, NASB)
We have learned from Israel that they are a people who have survived, in spite of ever threatening extinction. Yet, in spite of whatever tribulation they go through, God always preserves a remnant of people. By grace He has preserved their existence as a people for well over 3,000 years. It was this way at the beginning of their existence, and will be so even until the return of Christ. By grace they have been born, by grace they live today, and by grace they will inherit the world in the ages to come.
Interestingly enough, however, this nation almost did not even begin to exist. And had it not been for the grace of God, they would not have come into existence. Abraham and Sarah were very old when God promised to give them a child, and even after that promise was made, it was still many years before Isaac was born. The seed of his father was no more, and his mother’s womb was a grave. Yet, by God’s grace Isaac was born, and the nation of Israel was brought into existence.
Years later, the nation of Israel found itself as slaves, having lived as such for hundreds of years, under the oppression of the greatest superpower the world had ever known. When Pharaoh proposed to eradicate the nation through the death of their infant sons, God granted them the grace they needed so as to keep the hope of the promise made to Abraham alive. Not only this, but through “a mighty hand and outstretched arm,” God broke the power of their Egyptian masters, and brought them into the land promised to them as a nation.
This pattern of being brought to death, and then experiencing a sudden resurrection has been a Divine pattern repeated time and time again throughout the history of Israel. Time does not permit me to detail their possession of the land promised to the patriarchs, nor of their repeated exiles and subsequent exoduses down to the present day, nor does time permit me to speak of their yet future exile and return to the land. I am simply looking to show you this pattern of God’s gracious dealing with this nation, for in it we learn about God’s gracious dealing in our lives. In fact, this pattern is so engrained in Israel’s genetic makeup because of God’s dealing with them as a Divine object lesson, that this pattern was even found in the person of Jesus Christ, who being the ultimate Israelite, experienced a literal death and resurrection in His very person.
The Proper Response to God's Grace
God has done all of these things in order to teach us that, though grace is freely given to those who are in need of a miracle, people such as you and me, a certain response is sought by God out of the gracious favor shown to us. This response is meant to break us, so that we might be molded into the people God would have us become, and that His purpose for us can be accomplished in our lives.
Before entering into the land of promise, Moses recounted before Israel all the great and awesome things God had done in their history to bring them to this point in their lives. Though being a stubborn people with hard hearts, who continually resisted God’s will for their lives, God brought them to where they were now. And now they stood before the land of promise, a land that they saw was “gushing” with milk and honey. God said in spite of their deserving to be destroyed and not inherit the land, this land was theirs to receive.
God treated them entirely other than how they deserved to be treated. For it is the kindness of God at work, the kindness which is designed to lead men to repentance. That kindness is designed by God to overwhelm us, as we have a revelation and see how gracious God has been towards us, so as to effect a change in our hearts and minds forever, and bring about a response that provokes us to serve Him. Thus, standing before the people, Moses said:
Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statues which I am commanding you today for your good? …So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. (Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 16)
Obedience from a new heart has always been the proper response of God’s people to the offer of His grace. It was so in past ages, and so it is in the present age as well. No matter the dispensation God’s people have found themselves under, this has always been the Divine pattern in all ages. As it was and is with Israel, so it is with us.
God has done great and awesome things in our lives, namely, with what He did through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His forgiving our sins, and giving to us eternal life. Seeing then the great things God has done for us, and the exceeding great and precious promises we have from Him, “let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1) Let us have hearts that have been broken by the generosity of His grace towards us, that we respond to call He has on our lives, so as to love Him and serve Him always, and to keep His commandments. Instead of using grace as an excuse to live substandard and defeated lives, let us see God’s grace as something that so warms our hearts that we live a life of victory and abundance, and become the people He would have us to be.