206 The Land Between: Complaint and Trust
Sooner or later, all of us will find ourselves in the Land Between – a place of undesired and difficult transitions. We are ripped from normality and find ourselves in an unfamiliar world. The world of the unemployed, the suddenly single, the chronically ill. Everything has changed, and we are at a loss to know how to navigate this new terrain.
The Israelites found themselves in the Land Between in the Old Testament. Having been miraculously led out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt, they found themselves in the wilderness. A desert…where nothing grows.
They are hoping to get to the Promised Land. A land flowing with milk and honey. But they’re not there yet, and it’s going to take a long time to get there.
With a group of several hundred thousand people slowly moving through this desert, you can imagine that, eventually, they are going to run out of food. And when they did, they started to complain.
God saw to their need by providing a unique food substance. It was called manna. And this is what they ate, day after day, week after week. For two years, they’ve been eating manna, and they are sick of it. So they start to complain and wail.
Now, we can easily criticize these folks. But how often do we do the same thing?!
The fact is… the Land Between can be fertile ground for complaint.
For the Israelites, their complaint was not only chronic, it was intensifying. They were not merely rejecting the food, they were rejecting the God who had given it to them.
What were the Israelites doing in the wilderness for so long? If you look at a map, it seems there to be a much shorter, more direct route they could have taken. Why did God lead them out into the middle of the desert.
Because He needed to take this ragtag group of ex-slaves and form them into a people who knew their God and their identity as His people. A nation who was clear on their mission and prepared to step into it.
The fact is… The Land Between can be a greenhouse for trust.
It can be a place where we allow ourselves to be disciplined and trained by God so that we can learn to trust in God and live as a greater display for God.
The Land Between can either make you bitter or better. And that’s a function of our response to it.
Our patterns of response to challenges and trials will ultimately shape who we will become.
Here are some questions to consider in your Land Between:
What if the situation you’re experiencing that you most detest is intended for your best?
What if this wilderness you find yourself in can be a greenhouse for growth?
What if God’s purpose is not to destroy you but to develop you and ultimately display you?
What if the soil you most hate is producing the fruit you most want?
Text: Ex. 1:1-11; 3:1-8; 16:1-4, 13-16; Nu. 11:1-9, 20
Originally recorded on October 13, 2013, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN
With thanks for this resource:
The Land Between: Finding God in Difficult Transitions by Jeff Manion