Drought

Have you ever felt like your life is in a drought or you are lost in the wilderness without God? That is what I have been experiencing for quite some time now. I was reading my daily passages on Biblegateway.com a couple of weeks ago when a book advertisement popped up on one of the side bars of the web site. "The Land Between", by Jeff Manion is a book about all of life's unwanted transitions, (unemployment, foreclosure, illness, family crisis, etc.), and how to apply God's teaching to deal with them.

In the book of Exodus, God leads Moses and the Israelites into the desert to escape from Egypt. God promised Moses a land of their own, "filled with milk and honey". But in order to get there, they would have to endure the desert. The desert is the middle space, the land between two desirable places. Behind them was Egypt, a land filled with bountiful meals and riches, but in order to receive it you had to live under the Pharaoh as a slave. The land ahead was the promised land, the land full of milk and honey, the land that God promised to Moses and the Israelites.
Jeff Manion uses the book of Exodus as an example that compares to our droughts. In life, there will always be trials and crisis. We never know when it will happen, but it does and most times we will not be prepared for it. No one is exempt from crisis. The question is, "How will we deal with it when it hits"? The Israelites chose to whine and complain against God. This left Moses in a very uncomfortable position. Not only was he stuck in the desert, but he had to put up with the whiny Israelites as well.
In my desert place, I have been trying to trust and rely on God. I have never prayed as much as I do now until I got caught in this drought. I have even been whiny at times, questioning God's Word and His promise to me. I don't think God likes it when we whine and I'm willing to bet that He ignores us at those times, just like when we ignore our children when they are whining about something. On the other hand, I am willing to bet that when we pray in honesty to Him, He listens to us and wants to help us, even if His help comes in a form that we aren't expecting.
The chapter of this book that hit me the hardest was chapter ten, "The Disciplinarian". Jeff uses this chapter to explain how God had to discipline the Israelites before He could allow them to enter the promised land. In the ongoing complaints that the Israelites were delivering, they began to demand things as well. They were sick of eating manna and they wanted meat. Moses warns them that the promise of meat will be delivered, not just for a day though but for a whole month. "They would have meat until it comes out of their nostrils", is the way it is written in Numbers 11:20. I sometimes wonder if I could eat meat until it fell from my nose. I'm guessing if it did, I probably wouldn't want it any more. The discipline comes in the form of a plague. There was so much meat that most of it went bad. The Israelites were unaware of this and continued to eat the spoiled meat. This eventually led to a lot of upset tummies and even death among their people. Seems kind of harsh that God would supply them with spoiled meat to teach them a lesson for complaining and for being demanding. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there supposed to be consequences when discipline is being administered? Here is the paragraph that hit me the hardest from this chapter:

Sometimes God will give us what we demand and let us take the consequences. This is not because He hates us or has given up on us. As harsh as those consequences may be, they are still under the control of a God who loves us and a God who sees. He sees the big picture. He sees what's coming. He knows the events and challenges for which we need to be prepared. In Hebrews, we read, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (12:11).

My personal example of this is the house that we live in. The house that we said that God opened the door for us to because He wanted to bless us with it. The house that I thought I HAD to have. The house that I thought everybody would admire me for. The house that has been on the market now for a year and a half. The same house that has become my own personal prison. Even now, I am whining and complaining about it. But I have been receiving and continue gratefully to receive my discipline. I believe that I have experienced the most spiritual growth of my life in this past year and a half. I have grown closer to God and continue to rely on Him to keep His word and deliver us from this financial burden. He hears my cries and gives me hope. I pray honestly to Him everyday, and several times throughout the day, and ask Him for His provision. I know God wants the best for me, as He does for all of us, but I cannot receive what He has for me until I totally surrender to Him.
This season of drought will be over soon, only to yield to a new season of trials and tests, but I am remaining patient and my excitement grows every day to see what He has in store for me.
So, what does your desert place look like? Will you allow God to work in it? Will you give thanks for the good and the bad? Just some things to think about while you wander around in the land between.

Peace!