Our Lord does not make mistakes. He knows exactly what He is doing, and He is doing everything just right. At one time or another, He places each of us in a very difficult position, and we may not know which way to turn. But we know there are some changes that are going to have to be made for us to enter into sonship.
The thirty-second chapter of Deuteronomy is often called “The Song of Moses.” The Word tells us of two other songs written by Moses: Exodus 15 records the song sung by Moses and the children of Israel to celebrate their deliverance from Egypt; the other song is Psalm 90. But Moses was an old man when he sang this song, recorded in Deuteronomy 32. We could call it his “swan song,” for he wrote it just before he died on Mount Nebo (the word Nebo means prophet)in the arms of the Lord whom he had faithfully served. Deuteronomy 34:7 tells us that at the time of Moses’ death, his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated; so we could assume that his voice was still strong when he taught and sang this song to the children of Israel.
The Song of Moses begins on a very determined note: “Give ear, oh heavens, and let me speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.” Verse 1. Moses was looking for a great audience. He wanted everyone to hear him—the heavens and everyone in them and the earth and everything in the earth.
Years earlier, after Moses killed an Egyptian and buried him in the sand, he had fled to the wilderness. There he married a priest’s daughter, started a family, and lived as a fugitive for forty years. He was a fugitive not only from man; he was also running away from God. This is very difficult to do. It actually means that we are running until God catches us, or we are running until we catch up with God. Either way we are going to have a life changing encounter with God. When Moses saw the burning bush and heard God speaking to him, he realized that after all of his running, he had finally caught up with God.
Jonah was another man who ran so hard that he finally caught up with God. David knew that even if he were to flee to the ends of the earth, God would be there. In Psalm 139, he asked God, “Where can I flee from Thy presence?” No matter how fast we run or how far we go, God will be standing right there looking at us when you arrive.
After Moses caught up with God, he went back to Egypt to lead the Israelites out. Then they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. In his song, Moses described the way God had led the children of Israel in the wilderness, using a beautiful illustration of the eagle. Deuteronomy 32:11–12a: “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. The Lord alone guided him.” The undimmed eyes of Moses probably had seen many eagles during those forty years of wandering in the wilderness. He may have studied their ways. If not, he certainly had a revelation about them. He knew how the mother eagle takes care of her young and teaches them. He saw this as a beautiful picture of the way God took care of His people in the wilderness and tried to teach them.
In observing Joshua and Caleb, no doubt Moses could see how God was teaching those young men His ways and how their hearts were so set on God. Perhaps he saw Joshua’s irritation under that period of confinement before God opened the door for His people to possess the land. Maybe he saw the people struggling against the limitations that had been imposed upon them, bringing such frustration that they appeared like little birds in a cage, flying back and forth, beating their wings.
We too are often frustrated because of limitations. As we feel the urgent drive within us that is demanding change, we are frustrated. Why do we feel like running from our situation, even if we only intend to run down the road a ways and then come back again?
The process of growth, too, has inherent within it a certain quality of disturbance. We know that a growing child is usually not a happy child. It is difficult for parents to produce a happy state for their child. Sometimes that child does not want to grow up; he would rather remain a child so that he does not have to change. It is frustrating for a child to grow up; he is constantly disturbed by the demand to change and grow.
A mother and father enjoy the cute things their little baby does. They don’t mind if they have difficulty speaking or uses baby talk when they are learning to speak. They may even be amused when the young child upsets their plate of food or smears the food into their hair. But when that child gets a little older, they are admonished and disciplined when they do those same things as they did as a baby. The parents say, “Forget the baby talk. Talk plainly. Mind your manners! Don’t spill your food. Sit up straight!” They realize that as the child grows older, they must change.
God sees that need in us. As we grow spiritually, He is constantly demanding that we change. Our frustration may be a very healthy sign that we are growing up. We start on one spiritual level, and as we grow in the Lord we pass through many levels, one after another. At the same time, the Lord is demanding that we learn what He wants us to learn. Psalm 105:19 says of Joseph, “Until the day that the Word of the Lord came to pass over him, that Word tried him.” It tested him. The same thing applies to us. Whenever a Living Word of God comes to our heart, it will bless us; yet it will challenge us, it will frustrate us, and it will test us. We will not be worth much spiritually if we have not been somewhat frustrated. In fact, if nothing is bothering us, and we feel as if everything is fine in our life, perhaps we should be prayed for, because it is evident that we are not changing.
Change produces a sense of frustration. It is a good frustration, since faith is the reason for it. When we believe a Word from God, that Word begins to disturb us, there is a frustration. So we see that first of all, God is in the frustration. The devil is also involved in it. Whatever God is doing in order that His purposes might be performed in our lives, He has an unwilling accomplice in Satan. A good illustration of this is found in Peter’s experience. Satan wanted to destroy Peter because he voiced his revelation about Christ being the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Therefore Jesus told him, “Peter, Satan has desired you that he might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. When you have turned again, then strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:31–32). Jesus was foretelling Peter, “Remember what you have been through and help your brothers who are going through the same testing, because everyone is going to be tested.”
When God gives us a Word, He deals with us and tries us on that Word. Then the devil reaches in, trying to destroy us by his efforts, but God says, “I will overrule it. All things will work together for good because you love me and you are called according to my purpose. I will see to it that it all turns out right” (Romans 8:28).
Not only are God and the devil in the frustration we feel, but we are also responsible for it. We are our own biggest problem. God we can submit to, the devil we can resist, but how can we cope with our own self? How can we deal with the frustrations that arise from the lack of discipline in our spirit and from our lack of brokenness before God? Whatever God or the devil does to us is reflected in the way we respond; and the way we respond is based on our own spirit. When we are bitter or critical, we react in a wrong way to the devil, to God, and to everything that is going on around us. Again we are reminded of the importance of having a right spirit, a broken spirit before the Lord.
“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions.” Moses was aware of how God works in the realm of nature. He knew how an eagle builds her nest out of thistles and thorny plants and then covers those thorns with her own feathers, as well as other soft material, such as down. This makes a nice soft nest in which she can lay her eggs and hatch her young. After the babies are hatched, the mother works from dawn until dark to fill those hungry, gaping mouths! All the babies do is squawk, demanding food. Time after time mama eagle flies off to kill her prey; then she soars back up to the nest where she tears the food apart and drops it into those wide-open mouths.
The time finally comes when mama eagle looks at those lazy birds and thinks, “It is time for these babies to learn to fly. They are old enough and strong enough now.” So she stirs up the nest. She takes away the down and the other soft material. When the babies settle back, expecting to spend a nice, luxurious day eating the delicious food that Mama brings them, they suddenly let out a screech, “Ouch! That hurt! Mama! Look at that thorn sticking me right in the back of my wing. Help me!” The babies keep squawking, but Mama pays no attention to them at all. She sits on the peak, looking out over the valley with her eagle eye. She knows that the little eagles must be stirred up and become very uncomfortable so that they will want to leave the nest. They must want change as much as the mother eagle wants them to change.
Like the baby eagles, we too must want change. We must want it as much as the ministry that fathers us wants change for us. What does God do to bring about that change? When everything seems to be going well, He stirs up the nest and makes us uncomfortable. Then we can’t seem to get along with others or with ourselves. When those uncomfortable, thorny circumstances begin sticking us, we cry, “Lord, help me! Which way do I go now?” The Lord asks, “Do you want to change, son?”
“Yes, I want to change. I want to change right now! I want to get out of this nest!”
When the mother eagle sees that her young ones are ready to fly, she takes them out for a flying lesson, one by one. The baby eagle says, “O Mama, I am so glad to get out of that nest. Those thorns were sticking me so bad.” He hops on Mama’s back, and she soars up through the clouds. The little baby gawks in amazement, thinking, “I want to change, but do I want this much change?” Mama says, “Hang on, baby. You haven’t seen anything yet. Just wait.” Mama soars through the sky and as the little eagle begins to relax and enjoy his ride, his claws loosen their grip on Mama. Unexpectedly, Mama takes a dive, and off he falls, screaming, “E-e-e-e-k! What are you doing to me?” Down he falls toward the rocks, screaming helplessly. Suddenly Mama swoops down, catches the little eagle on her wings, and flies up again. The baby cries, “O Mama, don’t do that to me anymore!” Mama says, “Baby, I am teaching you to fly. Soon you will be able to fly all the way home by yourself. I am teaching you to leave the security of the nest and exchange it for the challenge of growth.”
This illustrates what God does for us. The changes that we are experiencing are of God’s doing. Like the young eagle, we can hang on for a while; but when God makes us flap our wings, we had better learn to fly as fast as we can because there are changes in the wind.
In verse 13 Moses tells of something else that God did for Israel: “He made him ride on the high places of the earth…” He does this for us too. We may become discouraged and bitter, so that we bolt and run, but we do not need to. God has not started anything in us that He is not able to perform unto the day of the Lord (Philippians 1:6). He has not brought us thus far to forsake us. God has not led us all this way for us to fail. Rather, He has opened up a wealth of blessing to us. He will help us to grow in His grace and knowledge, that we may be no more children tossed to and fro, but speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head, even Christ. He will help us attain to that measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13–15).
Do we want that maturity? Then we keep moving, and when the changes come, we do not become discouraged. Every time God does something for us, do we realize that we asked Him for that change? Then when He began working it in us, we probably decided that we were not actually that dedicated to it. The only reason why the little eagle screams for change is that the thorn is sticking him behind his wing. God stirs us up too, to ask Him for change. He wants us to be in a mobile state so that we are flexible and He can do a work with us.
Changes are coming. Some of these changes have promises behind them that are very specific, while others are only implied. Whichever they may be, the time comes when the greatest growth is made by appropriating a Word. If no specific Word has been spoken over us, we still have the whole Bible full of promises on which to stand. Those promises, which are usually only implied, are just as valid as the specific revelations over our life. No people have ever been more favored than the end-time remnant that God is bringing forth in this hour, because they will be a product of His Word. It will not matter whether that Word was spoken generally or specifically. They will appropriate it and walk in it.
If we have any feeling of insecurity in our heart, we need to be careful that we do not try to make a man or woman of God become our security. Don’t ever substitute a man for God. If you do, God will take him out of the picture. Let God alone be God to you. Let Him be the Lord over you. Learn to listen to Him and to follow His voice.
God only supplies us with a spiritual father or mother until our dependence upon him is eliminated, and we learn to hear God Himself speak to us. A true man of God will never be to you what you demand that he be in your moments of weakness. He will give you a Word from the Lord, not detailed answers for every problem. You may be disappointed in that. You may even yell, like a baby who feels abused and frustrated because the time of weaning has come.
If he is faithful, a fathering ministry will not constantly nurse you; he will give you meat in due season. When you feel that he is disappointing you stop and ask yourself, “Do I feel this way because of the changes that God is ordering in my life, or has he really failed me?”
Sometimes it is difficult for a mother to wean her baby. She seems to waver when she sees how the baby reacts. Perhaps she will have to leave the baby with a close friend or relative for several days, so that he can wean himself. Sometimes God weans us like that. He positions us away from those who would nurse us and give us sympathy on a level that we should not need anymore.
One of God’s names is El Shaddai, the great-breasted one, the bountiful one. Whatever we need, He will give it to us, even if it means depriving us of the source of blessing that comforted us yesterday. Whatever we need today, that is what we will receive today.
We are going to learn the ways of the Lord and teach them to others. We will learn to comfort the babes that cry. We will learn to comfort our own selves too, as that which God refuses to be to us drives us into what He determines to be to us.
We are going to learn how to walk with God ourselves, to hear his voice and learn how to fly.