I have been reading Deuteronomy. Moses is instructing the Israelites not to lose sight that it was God that brought them from Egypt into the promise land. He was afraid that their egos would get in the way of them praising the God of the Journey.
Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then you heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of the hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something thou fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
Deut 8:11-16
I saw myself traveling a similar road as the Israelites. I am in the process of settling down in a new land that I have worked a long time to get to... not 40 plus years like them, but there is a natural tendency for me to think I got here by my own hard work, determination, and skills. But I must fight that by remembering that it was the gracious hand of God that brought me here.
I also was stuck in a type of Egypt, land of slavery and oppression. I was a slave to sin. I was freed only by the grace of God. My life changed when I was 15. I was free from the pressures of this world and finally felt hope. Everything in my life changed. I was no longer a slave to this world but a slave of Christ. For the first time ever there was HOPE.
God continued to lead my life.
Eventually I came to the desert. I too have done my share of grumbling and complaining while in the desert to God. I think I had been in the desert at the end of college but I really started to taste the sand and the reality of my situation shortly after my dad died in 2007. I was thirsty and couldn't find water. I wanted to tell you that God and I were always walking in sync, but that would be a lie. During that part of my life I had difficulty see him clearly.
There were snakes and scorpions that were dangerously close. I call them doubt and fear. These two played a role in causing me to stumble. But God still provided water and manna when most needed. There were times that my passion and clarity would reappear. Those moments gave me the needed push to continue my journey through the desert hoping to arrive in the promise land.
During my desert time God had humbled me and tested me. I will not say that I have emerged unscathed, but even with the scars, I still put my trust and hope in the God of the journey. He has continued to show me that it isn't about me, it is about HIM.
so that in the end it might go well with you, at OCC we were always challenged that when we saw a "so that" or "therefore" to go and find out what they were therefore. In this passage it is show the goal of the previous paragraph. God brought me out of Egypt into the desert. God helped me face the snakes and scorpions. God provided exactly what I needed when I needed it most. God humbled me and tested me throughout it all. God did all this so that it might go well with me in the new land that he is giving me. It is what makes the bad stuff tolerable, because it prepares us to receive the good.
I am not saying that I have now arrived in the promise land (Africa) to stay forever, but it is a place that I have been striving for more than 12 years. I know that there will still be trails and lessons. But if I cling to the God of the Journey I can weather any storm or circumstance.
I never want to lose sight of the God who has brought me here.
I desire to make the God of Journey known here to other people who are stuck in Egypt. Please pray for Muslims to be delivered from their land of slavery... so that in the end it might go well with them also.
I hope you will continue to "Remember the God of the Journey" no matter where you find yourself today.
