To be a follower of God is to be a pilgrim. We are all together on a journey with and toward God. He is leading us.... calling us onward in a pilgrimage of faith and transformation. The challenge of transition is most acute in the 'land between' ....from where we have been to where God is calling us.
Transition is the place of danger... and also the place where we either grow and mature or regress and falter spiritually. (See Numbers chapter 11 in the Old Testament of the Bible for the references in this short article)
When we're 'on the road' with God the issue of provision (having what we need) is always paramount in our minds. The journey from the known to the unknown is fraught with the temptations peculiar to the 'not yet' of every faith journey. Faith always grows deepest in the dark room of the unknown places God calls us to walk through. The people of Israel were slaves in a futile and hopeless land.... they were working for another king and kingdom. God was calling them out to freedom in worship and onward to a life of promise and blessing. But the journey out was hard. The challenges of moving into the future must be met head on. Let's look carefully at what must be overcome.
When God has us in transition we often find ourselves overcome by the temptation to complain. In Numbers chapter 11 and verses 4-6, we hear the people complaining about God's provision of food. God was miraculously providing "Manna" from heaven but the people grew weary of this amazing miracle. The truth is we don't like change. It takes faith and trust to move forward into the unknown of new circumstances, jobs, relationships and ministry. Everything changes when God calls us out with him to the land between.
Often our sense of identity is not wrapped around our relationship with God. Instead we identify ourselves by other markers: our work, church life, wealth, possessions, hobbies, family life and relationships. In times of transition we have to guard our hearts against an attitude of ingratitude and false expectations built on a falsely glorified past.
In verses 11-15 of Numbers 11 we see that the land between of transition is fertile ground for an emotional breakdown. Moses begins to doubt God's wisdom and faithfulness to him. He is emotionally distraught and ready to quit...borderline suicidal..... saying "Kill me now!". He begins to doubt the promise of the place where God is taking him.
Doubt and emotional turmoil are not unusual in times of transition and turmoil. They are signals of our absolute dependence upon God to fulfill his word in us, to us and through us. We simply cannot go where God is taking us without an ongoing,absolute and total surrender to the Holy Spirit. Moses felt the crushing weight of disappointment through the cries of the people... the opposing spirit of worship (complaining) was too heavy for him to bear alone. He needed shared and empowered leaders to help him take the people where God was going.
In verses 16 and 17 of Numbers 11 we see that the land between is fertile ground to receive God's provision. We need to keep our hands open to receive from God. When we're angry due to a sense of loss of control we close our fists to protect our "stuff"....symbolic sometimes of a hardened heart toward God and others. We need to pray for a spirit of contentment during times of change. We need supernatural grace to deal with the elevated stress levels we undergo when we leave the familiar to embrace the next place God has for us.
In verses 18-20 and 23 we see that God sometimes has to discipline us when we rebel and resist the path God places before us. Discipline is one way that God shows us his committed love to us as his children. Discipline can be defined as "inflicting pain for redemptive purposes". Holiness and spiritual maturity don't come automatically. It's in the wilderness that we learn to pray and depend utterly on God alone.
Question to test ourselves: Are you throwing yourself completely on God to meet your every need? (Body, Soul & Spirit)
A final challenge: Our heart is in danger in the land between!
Don't believe the deceptive lie that time heals all wounds. It does not. Over time, some people heal while others become embittered and hardened. The land between usually forces us one way or the other. The habits of the heart we develop in this space---our responses and reactions---will determine whether the land between results in spiritual life or death. Complaining and a spirit of complaining resists eviction. Complaining and trust cannot live in the same house. They are incompatible and double minded roommates.
I believe we are living in a time of forced transition of unimagined magnitude. There has never been a time of such intense and rapid change in every sector of our lives. We are all in some way leaving what we know. But not everyone who transitions will make it to the land of God's promise and provision. We are meant to learn from the lessons of the people of historical Israel. They were called to the 'land of milk and honey', but sadly few made it.
I am praying we will make the right choices necessary to make it out of the land between and into the place of God's promise. He is waiting for us and calling us forward in love.
Jim
.
Transition is the place of danger... and also the place where we either grow and mature or regress and falter spiritually. (See Numbers chapter 11 in the Old Testament of the Bible for the references in this short article)
When we're 'on the road' with God the issue of provision (having what we need) is always paramount in our minds. The journey from the known to the unknown is fraught with the temptations peculiar to the 'not yet' of every faith journey. Faith always grows deepest in the dark room of the unknown places God calls us to walk through. The people of Israel were slaves in a futile and hopeless land.... they were working for another king and kingdom. God was calling them out to freedom in worship and onward to a life of promise and blessing. But the journey out was hard. The challenges of moving into the future must be met head on. Let's look carefully at what must be overcome.
When God has us in transition we often find ourselves overcome by the temptation to complain. In Numbers chapter 11 and verses 4-6, we hear the people complaining about God's provision of food. God was miraculously providing "Manna" from heaven but the people grew weary of this amazing miracle. The truth is we don't like change. It takes faith and trust to move forward into the unknown of new circumstances, jobs, relationships and ministry. Everything changes when God calls us out with him to the land between.
Often our sense of identity is not wrapped around our relationship with God. Instead we identify ourselves by other markers: our work, church life, wealth, possessions, hobbies, family life and relationships. In times of transition we have to guard our hearts against an attitude of ingratitude and false expectations built on a falsely glorified past.
In verses 11-15 of Numbers 11 we see that the land between of transition is fertile ground for an emotional breakdown. Moses begins to doubt God's wisdom and faithfulness to him. He is emotionally distraught and ready to quit...borderline suicidal..... saying "Kill me now!". He begins to doubt the promise of the place where God is taking him.
Doubt and emotional turmoil are not unusual in times of transition and turmoil. They are signals of our absolute dependence upon God to fulfill his word in us, to us and through us. We simply cannot go where God is taking us without an ongoing,absolute and total surrender to the Holy Spirit. Moses felt the crushing weight of disappointment through the cries of the people... the opposing spirit of worship (complaining) was too heavy for him to bear alone. He needed shared and empowered leaders to help him take the people where God was going.
In verses 16 and 17 of Numbers 11 we see that the land between is fertile ground to receive God's provision. We need to keep our hands open to receive from God. When we're angry due to a sense of loss of control we close our fists to protect our "stuff"....symbolic sometimes of a hardened heart toward God and others. We need to pray for a spirit of contentment during times of change. We need supernatural grace to deal with the elevated stress levels we undergo when we leave the familiar to embrace the next place God has for us.
In verses 18-20 and 23 we see that God sometimes has to discipline us when we rebel and resist the path God places before us. Discipline is one way that God shows us his committed love to us as his children. Discipline can be defined as "inflicting pain for redemptive purposes". Holiness and spiritual maturity don't come automatically. It's in the wilderness that we learn to pray and depend utterly on God alone.
Question to test ourselves: Are you throwing yourself completely on God to meet your every need? (Body, Soul & Spirit)
A final challenge: Our heart is in danger in the land between!
Don't believe the deceptive lie that time heals all wounds. It does not. Over time, some people heal while others become embittered and hardened. The land between usually forces us one way or the other. The habits of the heart we develop in this space---our responses and reactions---will determine whether the land between results in spiritual life or death. Complaining and a spirit of complaining resists eviction. Complaining and trust cannot live in the same house. They are incompatible and double minded roommates.
I believe we are living in a time of forced transition of unimagined magnitude. There has never been a time of such intense and rapid change in every sector of our lives. We are all in some way leaving what we know. But not everyone who transitions will make it to the land of God's promise and provision. We are meant to learn from the lessons of the people of historical Israel. They were called to the 'land of milk and honey', but sadly few made it.
I am praying we will make the right choices necessary to make it out of the land between and into the place of God's promise. He is waiting for us and calling us forward in love.
Jim
.
I love this! I've gained a lot of security in who I am and learned to rest in God's love and sovereignty during this time of transition for me-thank you for the reminder to not complain!
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