In keeping with the Willow Creek 2010 Global Leadership Summit theme of how we move from where we are to where we are going, Jeff Manion, senior pastor of Ada Bible Church, and author of The Land Between, spoke about the challenges we will face on the journey. As we reach toward our goals, having left our former comfort zone, we often find ourselves in what seems to be an inhospitable wilderness, wondering how we will ever get to where we are going. This is what Jeff has aptly named The Land Between.
When we find ourselves in this place, our situation is not so different from what the children of Israel faced, after leaving their bondage in Egypt. They found themselves wandering through the Sinai desert, in a wilderness that seemed endless, and the Promised Land seemed so far out of reach that they actually longed for the comforts they had left behind in Egypt. The story of their journey reveals much about the dangers and also the opportunities to be seized in this desolate space.
The land between is fertile ground for complaint. In Numbers 11, we find the children of Israel grumbling and complaining. Verses 11 – 15 find Moses, in what Jeff describes as an emotional meltdown culminating in near cosmic treason, pleading with God saying, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”
The land between is also fertile ground for God’s provision. God provides for Moses by delegating some of the burden of leadership to 70 elders of the tribes, and he provides for the Israelites far more than what they bargained for. They wanted meat, and meat they were given. Picking it up at verse 19, “You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” Yes, the land between is also fertile ground for God’s discipline.
Now this was not a ‘getting even’ kind of discipline. This was redemptive discipline. God disciplines us that we might learn to trust Him, to rely upon Him, and to give our hearts over to Him. The choices we make in these difficult times are our life or death choices. There is inherent danger, as our energy is drained and our emotions run high, but it is in our seasons of prolonged pain, confusion, restlessness, and longing, that we have a unique opportunity to learn to really trust God. This wilderness is also fertile ground for transformational growth.
In Gods plan, everything has a purpose. Rather than complaining, when we find ourselves in what seems to be a desolate wilderness, we can take comfort in remembering that this is our fertile ground to discover God’s provision, to accept God’s discipline, and to realize abundant transformational growth.
Blessings & Adventure,
Lynn “lynnibug” Rios
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Lynn, what an awesome reminder to not only be aware of the season in which we find ourselves, but to be equally aware of the opportunities for change and growth that are in place as we venture through it!
Thanks for the post,
Becky 🙂
Hey Lynn,
This article was great. I felt like I was back in Sunday school. Great way to impress on our minds that we are not alone in bearing our burdens. There is a higher power that we can thrust on burdens on.
Keep up the good work.
Tony
Lynn, How well I can relate to this. I have groaned, moaned and complained because I could not see where God was taking me. In the end it showed my lack of trust and faith. Sometimes we tend to forget that transformation is a process.
Thank you for this!
azar
Another great post Lynn. The land between is truly what we make of it.
Thank you Lynn..for this post I was reminded of how a garderner will prune a favorite plant( discipline) for the moment it may not look so beautiful but later because of training it bears much fruit..God himself loves us too much..not to prune whatever is hindering us from growth.
Well said Shirley!