The Promised Land

If you have followed my last few blogs I talked about not being defined by the works that we do, or the many titles we are given, and I want to continue on a similar theme today.

To give a bit of context to what I’m about to write about, the last few months have been (somewhat forcefully) a time of seeking; seeking direction, seeking purpose and mostly seeking and discovering who I am when I am not identified by any achievement or good work that I am doing. I have always been busy, always had things to strive towards - even if just the next assignment. Now, in a new country with new people, and where I am very much a small fish in a big sea, I have been forced to step back and ask God, where to now? But the answer doesn’t always come straight away. And yet through everything, strongly permeates a message that I am not what I do, my identity is first and foremost a child of Christ. Here, I am seen, I am known, I am justified.

Today I want to reflect a little bit about the idea of completed work, of God completing a ‘full’ work in ‘the fullness of time.’ To do so, I would like to draw a little bit on the story of Moses. But before this, a wee disclaimer: I am no-where near a bible scholar, in fact, I’m a self-confessed amateur when it comes to the word. However what I am is an over thinker and a truth seeker, and my mind whirls around the possibilities the bible holds to enrich my life. So I do my best to understand the relevance these ancient, yet very current words have for me.

Moses had the hefty job of leading the Israelites to salvation, from the land of Egypt to the Promised Land. After Pharaoh finally let God’s people go, the journey into the wilderness began. Moses faced many trials over many years leading the Israelites through the desert. At times, the Israelites cursed Moses for taking them out of Egypt, because even though they were slaves there, at least they had food and water to drink. Every time Moses called on the lord to petition for the people, he provided; food, water, comfort, rest, courage, wisdom, he provided. Intimacy grew between Moses and God and he never failed to provide for them, even if only day-by-day or moment-by-moment (Exodus 16: 4-5 & Exodus 16: 17-19).  I can’t begin to imagine the kind of faith required to journey through the wilderness for that long. Moses had little comfort of knowing what tomorrow would bring, only the knowledge that God was good and that he had promised them salvation. Moses held onto the covenant of the Promised Land, but he didn’t always walk with confidence. He grew wary and meek and the load that he was called to carry, at times was too much. Moses needed to share the load with others (Exodus 18: 17 & Exodus 18:22); a poignant reminder to surround yourself with people who will walk with you and speak life into your times of darkness.

The first time the Israelites stood at the borders of the Promised Land, they lacked faith that it would be safe there, due to the reports of spies they sent out to inspect the land. Because of their lack of faith they were exiled from the land and spent forty years in the wilderness. It was only the next generation, who had confident trust in God, who entered in. Moses himself never stepped foot in the Promised Land when he was alive, as he did not follow God’s precise plans when striking the rock to draw water in Meribah. Man how I would have regretted hitting that damn rock.

At many times the faith of Moses and that of the Israelites was not ready for the Promised Land; the fullness of Gods work in their lives in that particular season was yet to be completed. In the wilderness, Moses was forced to be reliant on God. Moses’s faith and character matured and even though he slipped up many times, he held onto the promises of the Lord and was ultimately a deeply faithful man.  

In the quiet times where you feel you lack direction or works to put you energy into, allow God to mould your character around the identity you have in him. Perhaps it is in the quiet times, in the stillness of the valley, where he is preparing you- solidifying your character and completing a work in you in order that you are ready and steadfast in the times of noise and busyness, or in times where your works require everything that you have to give. If you know your identity in Christ when all else is striped away, if you allow God to complete his work in you, understanding in all fullness the things he wants you to learn in a particular season of your life, this knowledge may guide you in the next season to come.

Lastly, although Moses never stepped foot in the Promise Land, God revealed it to him before he passed away. On top of a mountain Moses saw all that his people would inherit and he saw it in all its glory: “His eye was undimmed, and his vigour unabated” -Deuteronomy 34:7.  I think Moses would have left the earth holding this image in his mind and feeling great peace. It was only at the very end of his days where he saw all that God had promised his people. Yet, the whole journey Moses kept with him the real Promised Land - an internal landscape of belief, of hope and of purpose that kept him walking day-by-day, year-by-year.

So I encourage you, hold onto the external desires you feel God has promised you, the things you feel you are called to. However, when circumstances fail you and you feel lost in the wilderness, draw deeper into the Promised Land that you hold within. This is a place of peace, of strength, and ultimately of hope found in Christ.

Philippians 1:6

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Colossians 2:2
My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.

Colossians 2:10

And in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

James 1:4
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

2 SAMUEL // 22:17-20

2 Samuel 22:17-20

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

He drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

From my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

But the LORD was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place;

He rescued me because he delighted in me.

David called out to the Lord in his troubles when he was at a stronghold of his enemies, and acknowledged the greatness of God as his deliverer. In David’s distress he called out.

The verses that come before the ones above speak of the LORD not only answering David, but of God parting the heavens, and of heaven and earth trembling with the wrath of God, who was angry at the anguish David was faced with. Verse 14: “The LORD thundered from heaven”…. Verse 15: “He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy…” Verse 16: “The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare.”

And then God appears, reaches down and pulls David out of his deep waters into a spacious place, a place where his burden was easy and his yoke was light –Matthew 11:30. The verse doesn't say David was brought into a "happy" space where everything was necessarily better, but that he was brought into a spacious place; this is a place where we can breathe and acknowledge that God is bigger than our circumstances. 

I am overwhelmed with these verses today, and am in awe of the care that God has for us, exemplified by the enthusiasm of how he delivered David from his darkness. But, believe me, it doesn’t always feel like God parts the heavens and trembles earth every time I call out to him. 

But what I do know is that when I am closed in by my troubles and call out to God, my world expands, my mind opens, my thoughts rise to thee. My troubles do not always become smaller, yet I grow stronger in order to face them; “For when I am weak then I am strong” – 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10.

When I am run dry, when I have exhausted myself in my own efforts and call out to God, living water runs through me, and I am replenished; “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me- a prayer to the God of my life” –Psalm 42:7

Whatever your enemies are, whatever is contained in the deepest valleys of your life, whatever is wilting in the foundations of your world, God wants to expose them to bring light into your world. God can and will deliver you when you call out, for he delights in you.

I encourage you, through it all, through days of disaster or even the smallest moments of tribulation, place your eyes on God. Allow yourself to be gathered in his grace and drawn out of the waters that can otherwise overwhelm you. “From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe” – Psalm 61:2.

Lastly, I would like to share this song with you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNqo4Un2uZI

Take a moment by yourself today to listen and know he is ever constant.