Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what God is saying to me about a particular problem or situation. And other times, it’s like he’s smacking me in the face.
It’s not quite as mean as it sounds. I can be a little dense, so it’s actually pretty helpful.
Which is why, when one of the speakers at the Orange Conference began talking about the wilderness, I only groaned a little.
See, it started with Stuff Christians Like. That Jon Acuff started writing about how being stuck in a place far from your calling or your dream or your goals is like the Israelites being stuck in the wilderness. And I ate it up with a spoon. (Really, I haven’t stopped, since he wrote a book about pretty much that exact thing, and I pre-ordered it the minute it appeared on Amazon.)
Then, my friend Brittany and I decided to start a Bible study together, and the Priscilla Shirer study we chose turned out to be all about the wilderness.
So is it any surprise that Jeff Manion, senior teaching pastor at Ada Bible Church and author of The Land Between: Finding God in Difficult Transitions, spoke about the wilderness last week?
Well, no. I mean, he did write a book about it.
The more surprising thing is that it took me this long to see the pattern of what God just might be telling me. I’m still processing what this message means for my own life. But for now, I wanted to share with you some of the best bits of Jeff’s sermon.
If you’re not familiar with the story of the Israelites in the wilderness, here’s a quick rundown. The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt until Moses broke them out. On their way to the promised land (the one flowing with milk and honey), they got real whiny and rebellious. God provided for them like nobody’s business and was incredibly patient. But they just couldn’t get it together. And so God let them wander in the desert for years and years.
Based on this story, Jeff explained that the wilderness – or the land between, as he calls it – “is fertile ground for transformational growth. It’s also the place where faith goes to die.” He said, your heart is in danger when you go through the wilderness, and the choices we make in the land between may determine the people we become.
More specifically – and this is the one that got tweeted out like crazy – When you get hurt at 25, how you respond decides what kind of 45-year-old you will become. (Because, if you’re hurt and you don’t work through it, you’ll end up bitter and ugly.)
Wow . . . that one is still working on me.
Like I said, I’m still processing all this, but I couldn’t wait to share it with you. So, what do you think about this idea that our decisions while in the wilderness are critical? Are you in the wilderness – the land between – right now? Do you think your heart is in danger, that your current decisions could determine what kind of person you turn into twenty years from now?
Yes, that is some great food for thought. I believe it, how we choose to respond affects our outcome. I’d love to hear more of your thoughts as you continue to process this.
Yes, that is some great food for thought. I believe it, how we choose to respond affects our outcome. I’d love to hear more of your thoughts as you continue to process this.
Hmmm…I hadn’t thought about it affecting our outcome, other than our own attitude. THAT is great food for thought, Jamie!
I heard a favorite Pastor of mine say that the devil wants the desolation of your childhood to become the desolation of your adulthood. But its the same story at any age, the devil wants us stuck in the past, never able to step into the plan God has for our lives. The best way this is achieved is our experiences change the way we think about things and we see the rest of our life through this filter that is well frankly not of God.
Example, well, if you had a bad childhood and it involved abuse from a male you may carry with you the following lies. Notice this is what any psychologist will tell you, but they can’t help you deal with it 100% because its actually spirtual. Abuse: kids blame themselves and try to perform to earn love and accepetance. rejection, self rejection, guilt, shame, anxiety stress worry, fear of man, lack of trust in God self and others, perhaps hatred and mistrust of ALL men. Think how this would make it hard to feel secure and relate to God. How many of us feel we can be rejected by God. How many of us feel like at any moment we could be rejected by others and insecure in relationships?.
We go through adulthood haunted becasue we never learned to take every thought captive and replace the lies we believed born out of trama with Gods truth. Hey, I cannot be rejected. I am accepted in the beloved. I can cry out Abba Father because I have been adopted. We never repented to God if we didn’t trust Him and ask Him to heal out broken hearts so we could learn to trust. We never repented for believing lies like not trusting men in general becasue of what one man did to us. The devil would like to rip us off of every good relationship we will ever have, and if we continue to believe the lies, its quite easy to miss out on every good thing.
– What lies have you believed?
– Can you make a scripture list of Gods corresponding truths and renew your mind with the washing of the water of the word?
– Can you take every thought captive, pick out the lies and start to replace the lies with TRUTH.
Its lifechanging. Why? Because its not psychological, its not just positive thinking. When you start to agree with God and line up wiht His word you are submitting to God and resisting the devil and the devil will flee. Believing Gods truth is all you have to do becasue the battle is HIS. As a man thinks so is he. How true, you never did one thing that never started as a thought, good or bad. Be prepared for the blessings of God to overtake you. God is awesome.
YES! I am SO stuck in the wilderness right now. I need to read that book!
I haven’t read it yet, so let me know if you like it! I’ve heard great things about it…
I definitely believe that…I keep telling my husband that I need his help to not become a bitter old woman. By that I mean that I need him to keep me accountable for dealing with things and not allowing them to harden and fester within me.
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually asked my husband to keep me accountable in that way, but I should. Who else is close enough to understand our pain but still see if we’re becoming bitter?
We just walked out of the wilderness…for now. There will be other times. We did not want to be bitter about our circumstance, we wanted Him to receive all the praise and glory no matter if it was what we wanted or not. My prayer is we never forget (like the children of Israel) how good and gracious He is. All He does is for HIS glory…whether or not we understand is really not the point. That was a hard lesson for me to learn. But, once I did, I could fully enjoy a relationship of full reliance on Him and be joyful.
Your faith during this last wilderness was so inspiring to me, Nikki. I SO love to understand everything, so I suspect I’ll have a few more trials to endure before really grasping that lesson (that us understanding is not the point). Joy no matter what – that’s what I’m trying to learn, though. Such good words here!!
This post gave me goosebumps while I sit at my workdesk. The thoughts completely resonate with me as I have recently experienced divorce and the betrayals that come with it. Many of my choices today are made with the thought of “That’s not who I want to be” behind them. This confirms that right now groundwork is being laid for what defines me and what my children will become. This is big stuff.
It IS big stuff! Especially when you add your children to the mix. I pray that you can work through your difficult situation and come out the other side stronger but not brittle!!
Thank you so much for this post! I really needed this right now.
Girlfriend, I am there! Sometimes I feel like I’m in the wilderness so much, I’ve got the t-shirt to show for it! :) LOL
Visiting from the “Encouragement is Contagious!” linky party on my blog! :) I would love for you to link up again next time! :)
Blessings!
Melanie