Psalm 106:15 AMPC
And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.
Getting my own way in life is greatly overrated.
I, like the Israelites in the wilderness, can crave after something and even petition the Lord for it, so much so that He actually acedes to my request - but, with it comes "leaness of soul"...
What is that?
Perhaps a withdrawing of anointing or the sense of God's Presence?
Perhaps a dryness in my spirit?
Life becomes dull and bland and God's Word doesn't speak sharply to me anymore...
The Israelites craved the delicious food as in their days of slavery - they were sick of the Lord's daily provision of miraculous manna:
Numbers 11:5-9 AMPC
We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt and without cost, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. [6] But now our soul (our strength) is dried up; there is nothing at all [in the way of food] to be seen but this manna. [7] The manna was like coriander seed and its appearance was like that of bdellium [perhaps a precious stone]. [8] The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it; that tasted like cakes baked with fresh oil. [9] And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.
Wow! What a lesson to learn from this.
May I never forget the way Jesus has saved me, set me free from sin and given me eternal life.
May I never be envious of worldly gain.
May I always be grateful for God's miraculous provision for me.
I may not be in a physical desert, but God's miraculous provision in a spiritual one is not to be scoffed at.
Father God thank You for feeding me daily on Your Word, for sending the Holy Spirit to enrich and water my soul. Keep my eyes fixed on You and Your goodness and not to crave the "meat" of the world that leads to leaness of soul.
This article expands on this theme:
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