"Proving"

 "Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:" (Hebrews 3:8 KJV)

  "Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in the dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm." (Ephesians 6:11-13 NLT)

 Something to consider, if you are having any doubts about your walk or the confidence you have in God's ability to keep you firmly in His mighty hand. As difficult as it might be to teach ourselves how to stay on the right path, God's way of teaching us, although it might not come with instructions, it does cause us to be stretched and turned inside-out! 

 We can do it the easy way, or we can let God take us through the wilderness; sometimes we don't really have a choice, but most every time we have assistance. When the children of Israel marched through the wilderness, they had God showing them the way, providing a cloud by day and a fire by night. Those were two very obvious things to go by, but God uses other things too, whatever it takes to get us to pay attention. 

 As for me, I am really hard-headed and don't get the message as much as I should. Call it a work-in-progress; but I seem to be stuck in loop, that keeps starting the progress over and over again! Which, if you have studied the children of Israel's journey through the wilderness, it isn't all that strange for us to keep making the same mistakes again and again...

"His disciples came and asked him, "Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?" He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use parables, For they look, but they don't see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, 'When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes - so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.'"" (Matthew 13:10-15 NLT)