I will call it Home Sweet Home. This is perfect! I will write about the home’s inner workings and how important our time spent at home is. I will shine a light on our finer qualities and teach others how they, too, can have a perfect life, just like me. It will grab readers and be an instant success with the click of a button!
I had the support of my family and a green light from the Lord. I knew He had called me to write my stories. It was time. What was I waiting for?
So often, all we can see is what is right in front of us. We need help seeing what is going on behind the scenes. Every once in a while, God draws back the curtain and gives us a glimpse as he did for Elisha’s servant when he showed him the chariots of fire (2 Kings 6). But for the most part, we must trust that the chariots are there, even though we can’t see them.
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This couldn’t be depicted better than when Balaam tries to curse the Israelites in Numbers 23 and 24. The Israelites are living on the plains of Moab when this story occurs. God has already designated how to set up camp around the Tabernacle built in the center of the encampment. Israel is oblivious to the design of the camp and the protection it will provide for them. The camping order, which God gave Moses, was as follows; the larger tribes would camp north and south, while the smaller tribes, east and west. The Tabernacle itself would be at the juncture of the two. In this way, the camp formed a gigantic living cross, which could only be seen from God’s vantage point. The cross means nothing to the Children of Israel, and it wouldn’t for sixteen hundred more years, yet that did not dissolve its power.
Balaam has been summoned by the King of Moab, Balak. He had learned they were camping on the plains of Moab, and all the people were afraid of the Israelites because they had heard and seen all they had done to the Amorites. So, Balaam, a sorcerer, is asked to curse the children of Israel. He tries to curse them three times from different vantage points, but each time, he can only bless them.
Balaam is one of the few that saw what Moses and Joshua had seen coming down from the mountaintop when Moses received the ten commandments. Joshua had been waiting for Moses. Both could see the camp’s layout, but none could understand it. There are times God is doing things we don’t fully understand. Our job is not to figure it out but to trust him and keep moving forward.
I can see Balaam on top of the ridge, looking down over the people of Israel. A mother is helping her daughter learn how to weave rugs, make coats and cook supper over an open fire. A father is showing his son how to use his weapons for the art of hunting and war. Kids are running and playing, enjoying the blissfulness of childhood. Perhaps some elders are sitting around visiting about the day’s events. Balaam watches, then stretches out his hands to curse God’s people when a blessing flows from his mouth! Whatever is hidden in the cross cannot be cursed.
How often has God kept me from hazards I never saw or whispered in my ear and stopped peril before it started? Oblivious to His protection, how many times have I entertained angels unaware; more than I can count, I am sure.
As the story goes on, Balaam cannot curse the people. You can’t curse what God has blessed! Balaam, however, does not give up. He realizes although he can’t curse Israel, they can bring it upon themselves. He plots with the King of Moab to have them seduced but the lust of their eyes. Typically, our defilement does not come from the outside but from within. We must be careful where we spend our time.
So sure I was to be an overnight success, my father, in his ever-loving, gentle way, said, “I understand the passion for the call, but nothing is more dangerous than dealing with success you are unequipped to navigate. The most pivotal moments in our lives are those moments when we realize we have caught the prize but ignored the instructions for managing it.”
It has been four years since I started Home Sweet Home, and my stories have been anything but perfect. Our home is not a training ground for others but a training ground for me. Although I have touched hearts, which blesses me beyond measure, it is my own heart God has changed. He has shown up on the pages of my stories and shown me that he never desired perfection but obedience.
Israel ignored the instructions for managing God’s laws when Balaam found a way to corrupt God’s people. The enemy is always looking for a way to sneak in. It happens with little notice as he takes up residence in a seat that was not designated for him but gladly occupied. It is up to us to ensure we keep on our guard and notice when he is meddling in our affairs.
I don’t always see the inner workings of God’s handy work, but I consider it a privilege that I am hidden in the cross. However God chooses to use me will be well worth it.
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