Morning Thoughts - by Elder Philip Conley

Morning Thoughts

Deuteronomy 8:3-4, "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years."

This morning, many think that God does not exist because too many "good" people are suffering. This thinking further shows man's complete prideful, natural condition of thinking better of himself than he ought. If anyone is "good," that is wholly by the grace of God. There can be no other way that man does righteous acts unless the Lord Himself has put that new man within him. Also, after regeneration, we are never promised a bed of roses for the rest of our natural lives. So, if a child of God suffers, that only proves that a child of God is suffering. It is a false notion to dismiss the existence of God by this
state. However, even when children of God suffer, the Lord still does not utterly forsake them.

Notice that the man Moses is recounting the journeys of the children of Israel in this book. He has gotten to the portion when he talks of the wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. The Lord turned them back to
the wilderness for 40 years for disobedience in the day that the spies brought back the evil report from the land of Canaan. Only Joshua and Caleb entered the land of Canaan from that generation of 20 years old and upward for their righteous behaviour. However, even during this time of judgment from the Lord, He still did not forsake them utterly.

Notice what the Lord continued to do for them. He fed them, gave them drink, guided them with a cloud and fire, and He blessed them to never have swelling feet or worn clothing. How many of us have seen the blessings of the Lord and have still doubted? The children of Israel saw the miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, of water out of the rock, and conquest in victory. However, they still murmured and doubted. Then, they saw these blessings in the wilderness, but they again murmured anyway.

A man told me once, "If I had been there, I would have never doubted." When I queried why, he responded, "If the Lord had blessed me in such a magnanimous way, why would I have doubted?" My response was, "Well, then why did they doubt?" He did not answer, because he only had two possible explanations: 1.) He would have doubted too, 2.) He would not have doubted, because he is a better person than the children of Israel were (which he did not want to say). I am sure, had I been there, I would have doubted with the congregation. Man's nature tends to doubt the things of God. We HAVE seen blessings in our lives (if we look around with our eye of faith). He has blessed us to have knowledge of the truth of His word and church, to live in a nation with great liberty and freedom, good health, plenty of food and raiment. He indeed supplieth our every need. They wanted for nothing in the wilderness, and if I am honest, I can say the same in my own life.

Are there those of His people that suffer? Indeed there are. Have any of us suffered of the household of faith? Indeed we have. However, had the Lord not been there during our trying and difficult times, we would not be here today. We would have folded under the pressure, and if the Lord was not always watching over us, the devil would have his opportunity to do what he pleases. However, even in our darkest hours, He is right there with us. Sometimes our eyes need a little illumination to show us that He is still there.

If you are in a completely dark room and cannot see your hand in front of your face, you would be unable to tell that someone is standing right next to you. However, a light shining does not make them there, but it shows you that they are there. Our Lord is always there whether we know it or not. He provided everything for the children of Israel, but they failed to see it (from time to time), and oh how I fail to see His blessings in my life from time to time! May we ever thank Him for being so much better to us than we deserve.

In Hope,

Bro Philip