Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. He asked the Lord, “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? 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.

Numbers 11:10-11, 13-14

In his book The Land Between, author Jeff Manion uses the story of the Israelites’ journey through the Sinai Desert as a metaphor for being in a time of testing, a trial–“the land between.” After generations of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites travel through the wilderness toward the Promised Land. They can’t go back, nor can they move forward. They did a lot of complaining. Yet their forty years in the desert were intended to transform them from people of slavery to people of God.

We too have been going through a wilderness experience, though things have much improved. Wilderness experiences happen whenever we have a time of prolonged waiting, confusion, illness or emotional problems. Many of us are wondering what will happen now. In a way, our experience is not unlike the Israelites’ as they wandered through the wilderness, wondering when their journey would end.

But Manion says that “many seasoned spiritual advisers propose that this is the only space in which radical transformational growth occurs. God intends for us to emerge from this, radically reshaped. But the process of transformational growth will not occur automatically. Our response to God while in the Land Between is what will determine whether our journey through this time will result in deep, positive growth or spiritual decline.”

We can’t choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we will respond to the situation and to God. Do we complain, ignoring how God had been there for us in the past?…Or will we call out to God, knowing he’s there, knowing he’s concerned?

Too often we become a victim and don’t trust God. We don’t place our troubles in his hands. But when we trust God, he will help us make the best of a situation. And, quite possibly, our faith will grow in the process.

Where is God taking you? Trust him. He’s in control

marja