Leanness Of Soul

"And he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul." Psalm106:15 God sent mighty judgments upon the Egyptians who held the Israelites as slaves. And one remarkable thing the Israelites saw was that none of those judgments fell upon them, they fell only upon the Egyptians. Their preservation during the horrific judgments was nothing short of miraculous. Finally Pharoah let them leave, but no sooner had they left but he changed his mind and sent his armies after them to destroy them. With their backs to the sea and the Egyptian armies in hot pursuit, God parted the waters of the sea and the children of Israel went across on DRY LAND. Then when the Egyptian armies followed, the waters went back over them and the entire army drowned. Can you imagine witnessing these things? How astounding! How awesome! God supernaturally protected his people and they saw signs and wonders previously unknown to man. Put yourself in this picture and imagine seeing something like that. How then could they so soon forget these things and complain to God as they journeyed through the wilderness? It is our fallen human nature to complain. It is our fallen human nature to never be satisfied. When a person has walked a long time with the Lord and has seen the awesome things he has done in his/her life, how then can he complain when his demands aren't met? What an insult to God! The walk with God is the battle of wills, but it shouldn't be so. How soon we forget what he has done in our lives, so many stories we all have of his provision and obvious presence in our stories. Yet we so soon forget them and we so soon complain, we rebel, we demand ...and sometimes the Lord lets us learn a lesson by giving in to our demand, and we end up with leanness of soul. We've become spoiled brats. We stomp our foot and cross our arms and refuse to accept that we cannot have our way. And frightfully, he may go ahead and let us have our way in order to teach us that it will never bring the satisfaction we demand, but will instead let us experience what it is to have leanness of soul. To walk with God is to put one's hand into the hand of his Father, his God, his all, and to trust completely that he is in charge of everything that happens in our lives. As a wise Father, he desires our TOTAL trust. When we complain, we are demonstrating the spoiled attitude of the child who thinks ill of the Father who has been so good to him. When the Lord says "no," let it go at that. He knows what he is doing. He has a plan for the life of his son or daughter, and he crafts all the elements in life to bring to pass the success of that plan. The believer needs to come to the place where he thoroughly trusts that all that his Father does in his life is in his best interest, even and perhaps especially ...the hard things. If there is a problem in your life, it is there in your best interest. Don't demand that the problem go away, but rather ask the Lord to show you what you can learn in the circumstance. Don't stomp your foot or fling yourself on the bed in a temper tantrum. The worst thing that can happen is that the Lord will relent and allow you to have what you're demanding even though it is not his plan for your life, so that you'll eventually come to realize that it is empty and does not satisfy. What a joy to the Father when a son or daughter has a heart of willingness to surrender all to him and to cooperate with him in the working out of his plan for his or her life. What a joy to the Father when the child loves him, when the child brings praise and worship to him, when the child delights in him, when the child totally trusts him in all and every circumstance in life, even the hard things. This is maturity, but few ever reach it because human nature is such that we react to circumstances rather than react in trust in our Father. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..." Philippians 2:5 Jesus went through some horrendous things, yet he did it all with the right attitude. He surrendered to the Cross because he trusted the Father. It was through that cross that multitudes will be saved. He surrendered to the Father's plan and the fruits of that will last for all eternity. Therefore: "...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, WHO FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM ENDURED THE CROSS, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2 For the joy that is set before you… God's plan for your life is in your best interest, for your best eternity. Surrender therefore to all that it takes to get you there, with a heart filled with praise and thanksgiving ...for that joy which is set before you.