In The Wilderness

Have you ever found yourself in the “in between” where you’ve left a hard/bad situation, but haven’t quite arrived to the finish line yet? Have you ever been in a situation that you felt was hopeless or unfair? A situation where you just want to be rescued and you longed for the days when you could put it behind you and walk in freedom? What happened when you were finally on the other side? Were you grateful, rejoicing, or excited? Did you ever find the freedom more challenging to deal with than the discomfort and pain that you were set free from? Did you ever think that your life would be easier if you could just go back to what you were use to even though it was painful because it was something familiar and you knew what to expect?

In my Bible Study we’ve recently been reading through the book of Numbers and I was once again struck by the fact that when the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they asked to go back to Egypt. They had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years and God set them free to bring them to the Promised Land, but in order to get there they had to journey through the wilderness. It was a long, hard journey that required MUCH faith and trust that God is good and that He fulfills His promises. There were many tests in the wilderness, but God promised that He would lead them to the land flowing with milk and honey. He had performed many signs and wonders in Egypt to show how powerful He is and in Deuteronomy 26:8-9 we read, “And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” So, we know that he fulfilled the promise that He made, but lets go back to the wilderness for a moment.

In Numbers 14:3b-4 the people of Israel say, “”Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another. “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”” When I read this it was easy for me to look at the people of Israel and think that they were being ridiculous. I mean, who in their right mind would actually think returning to Egypt — where they had been slaves — would be a better option than trusting God to fulfill His promise? I mean, sure the spies that were sent out in Numbers 13 to check on the land gave a bad report, but they had seen God do the impossible time and time again at this point — shouldn’t they just trust Him? I then realized that I can be just like the people of Israel.

When they were set free from Egypt, they were more than ready for the blessing of the Promised Land, but they weren’t expecting to have to go through the wilderness to get there. The trials of the wilderness proved to be extremely hard for them. They ended up spending more time in the wilderness then they originally were going to (Numbers 32:13) and in the end, their rebellion against God led to many of them never actually entering the Promised Land. I’d like to think that I wouldn’t be one of them that grumbled and complained and asked to return to Egypt, but I honestly don’t know if I would. They didn’t have the whole story like we do — they were the story.

There have been times in my life when I’ve prayed for freedom and blessings, but the journey through the wilderness was hard. I’ve been SO blessed by God throughout my life and I’m eternally grateful for His grace, kindness, and forgiveness because I know that I’ve grumbled and complained plenty. I know that it can be hard to hold on to the hope that God is good when one is in the midst of a hard/bad situation. I know that it can be easy to think one would have been better off to stay in Egypt — because one might know what to expect — than to journey through the wilderness in search of the Promised Land which requires a lot of faith because it is new and unknown territory. I know that in the midst of the wilderness, it can get lonely and hard. The journey can bring pain, fatigue, doubt, questions, and so much more, but the Promised Land is worth it. God is worth it. The growth and wisdom gained through the hard lessons are worth it even though in the middle of the wilderness they might be unpleasant and down right painful to learn.

So, let us learn from the people of Israel. Let us remember that God promises eternity for those who believe in Him (Romans 10:9) — that’s our Promised Land. Our Egypt is our sin filled life without God and our wilderness is the journey in between. Jesus gave all of us the opportunity to be set free from our sin filled life. Each of our wilderness journeys look different and for some it is longer than for others. Some never make it out of Egypt, but like Pharaoh choose to be stubborn and resistant to the love of God. Some journey through the wilderness like the people of Israel desiring to go back to Egypt. Some journey through like Joshua trusting God to fulfill His promise and as a result, getting to experience the blessing of the Promised Land. Some are brought out of their sin filled life situation thanks to another person, but don’t choose to believe in God themselves, so they end up stuck in the wilderness their entire lives. Some people even become bitter and angry that they were rescued from a bad situation because the bad situation is where their family was and they think it would be better to be in a predictable, bad situation then to have to trust God’s goodness.

Life is FULL of hard things and hard lessons to learn, but for us who trust in Jesus, there is a promise that is worth the struggle. Let us not turn back to Egypt where we were slaves to sin (Romans 6:20-23), but rather let us continue to, “…press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” like Paul says in Philippians 3:14. Let us remember the people of Israel and take the time to remind ourselves that we are now the story. We don’t get to read all of the details of our lives before they happen, so we need to trust in God and remember that He is so good and so worthy of our trust and obedience.

Song of the Week: This week I chose “Press On” by Building 429. Enjoy!