"How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.  {Psalm 78:40-41}


Slowly but surely, I am learning about graphics. Please be patient with me, I know I will be able to make it work. This is a shot from Shelter Island, a seemingly remote place while only being a few minutes from Greenport, Long Island. The pace is slower, the architecture is from the 1920's in some places. A nice place to visit: quiet and picturesque.

This quiet place has nothing to do with the tension of our verses for the day, except that our friends the Israelites may have wished they were there. Their own choices made life miserable for them. How did the Israelites provoke God? They forsook God's way and went on their own. This truth makes me shiver inside. How many times have I thought I could do the same? I hate to admit it, but all too many times.

My husband and I have been negligent when it comes to our youngest child's behavior. I remember feeling that God wanted me to take her phone away because of inappropriate speech, and a haughty attitude. I didn't. Every time I let it go, it only made her attitude worse. She became more defiant, and less concerned for other family members. It finally came to a head, and her phone was taken away for a lot longer than she ever thought. Other family members got involved, and it became a major conflict, when I could have kept it to a mild roar.

The problem is when we do our own thing, we limit God and what He wants to do in the situation. Instead of having a teen who would be respectful and considerate, I had a daughter who for far too long, got away with defiance. It upset me every day. It got blown out of proportion, when I could have resolved it many times in the past. Why hadn't I done the right thing in the first place? It was inconvenient, it would upset her. Wrong motives on my part. Listening to the small things in the first place, gives us freedom in the end. Blessings and love to you.