Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help (Ezekiel 29:16a NIV)
God sets reminders in our lives. They are needed to remind us of our folly in not putting our confidence fully in God.
If such reminders are not there we may still go back to repeating our folly in trusting people more than God. And there are occasions when such trust in people become sin in God’s eyes.
The question is when does such trust in people become sin? The answer is not easy, for every Christian in the beginning stages of his or her Christian life depends on elderly believers or friends who are more mature in their Christian walk. This is good.
But when such a dependency is carried over to the years that follow, then it becomes a kind of substitute for a personal relationship with God. It is kind of second edition of fellowship that such people enjoy.
They expect their friends or spiritual guides to spend time with God and then tell them what God told them. God, out of His jealous longing for fellowship with each person, would not tolerate this for long.
He will cause some things to happen, when those friends and guides on whom they depended are not able to help. Then these people will realize that there is a limit to human help.
God does shake their faith in their friends and guides to call back their attention to Himself. He wants to tell them to stop putting confidence in people and to start putting confidence in Him.
He should be the source of confidence always. Such a confidence will never fail. Say “No” to self-confidence and “other-person-confidence.” And say “Yes” to “God-confidence!”
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More Manna:
Thus the Work on the House of God in Jerusalem Came to a Standstill