Exodus 23:25-31
God promised the children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land, that if they followed Him, He would bless them. In Exodus 23, we read the list of these blessings. They include health and no miscarrying or barrenness. They also include that the enemy of Israel would fear them because God would send hornets (yes hornets) before them into the land.
These are some pretty incredible promises. The problem is when most of us read them all we can think of is a “smiley” preacher on T.V. and we react one of two ways. We either rejoice and shout, “Yes! I can do whatever I want and God will bless me!” Or (like me) we cringe and think, “Aren’t sicknesses just a part of life, and God would never prevent us from getting them because He’s always teaching us some valuable lesson through them?” But the real problem is neither one of these responses is Biblical.
Take a look at the Scripture. 1) God gave the Israelites a whole list of ways they were to follow Him in order to receive the blessings. They could not just live however they wanted and then expect God to bless them. That wouldn’t work. They had to obey the voice of God implicitly, they could not serve other gods, and in fact they were supposed to completely destroy those other gods’ high places. They had to trust that their ruling Deity would not leave them in the midst of battle to suffer horrible, embarrassing defeat. (Note: God expects holiness but He also gave a way for forgiveness, it’s not about being perfect to receive God’s blessings, it’s about striving to be like Him with all your heart).
2) God had a mission for the people of Israel. He had His eye on the Promised Land for His people and He willed that they would conquer it. Therefore, He was willing to stay any diseases or hardships so that His people could accomplish their goal. Besides the fact that He loved them and didn’t desire any harm to come to them. But that doesn’t sit well with people who are always angry and displeased and therefore they always think of God as angry and displeased. But that’s a different sermon.
Anyway, these items are essential not to overlook. Let’s apply this to our modern world today. Mr. Smiley preacher needs to remember that God has standards for people to follow. He is not some grandfather in the sky saying “boys will be boys.” It doesn’t work that way. If people do not follow the will of God, He is going to do whatever it takes to get them to look towards Him (just ask the Northern Kingdom). Besides the fact, life isn’t all about blessings anyway. It’s about working toward seeing Christ’s Kingdom made a reality on earth. It’s about disciplining yourself to become more like Jesus every day. And yes, sometimes hardships do help lead us the direction God wants for us. Look at the book of Job. After all the trials Job declared, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5). Before Job lost everything he had only a head knowledge of God, and it was good. God even asked Satan if he had considered His servant Job. But after he lost everything Job knew God intimately. It took those trials to bring him to that place. That was God’s purpose for Job.
Once again purpose. What was God’s purpose for the Israelites? To conquer the Promised Land. They couldn’t do that if they suffered with sickness. They couldn’t travel the wilderness if bread and water weren’t supernaturally provided. So, let me ask you… what’s God’s purpose for you? If you’re like me and you’re supposed to go share the Gospel overseas, don’t you think that God will make provisions for that? If you’re a pastor and you run constantly on very little sleep, don’t you think that God can help with that? Maybe you say, “Well, I’m not going to ask God for health because I don’t want people to think I’m a health and wealth kind of guy.” COP OUT! Stop it! If God has given you a task, ask Him for the tools to complete it, whether that be health, or a swarm of hornets to scare the enemy. Maybe the real problem is you aren’t following the voice of God, and you’ve bowed your knee to the metaphorical false gods in your life, and now God is refusing to pour out His blessings on you?
In the words of God to Job, “gird up your loins like a man (or woman).” Quit being an apathetic Christian and start living in the power of God. I’m not saying that everything will be peachy if you do, but let me tell you it will be much better suffering for God (Rom. 8:18), than wallowing for yourself. Ask God for health to complete your task. He is good, He desires what’s best (Rom. 8:28). Stop copping out!