The Wilderness, Part 3

Hey everybody,
In my two previous posts I have discussed the idea of being in the wilderness, comparing our situation to that of the Israelites, as they wandered in the wilderness for forty years.  Certainly we all have times in the wilderness. Even Jesus had his time in the wilderness.  Two lesson we have already seen about the wilderness from Deut. 8 is that 1) The Lord tests in the wilderness.  and 2) The Lord still meets our needs, even in the wilderness.  There is one more lesson to learn about the wilderness.  That is, the wilderness is followed by the Promised Land. (Like lesson 2, someone spoke about this at the conference, but I do not remember who.)

Deut. 8:6-9 says, "Obseve the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to Him and revering Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land - a land with brooks, streams and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines, pomegrantates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills."

At this point, after all of this time in the wilderness, God was about to lead the nation into the Promised Land, a place with all kinds of good things.  Likewise, you may feel like you are in the wilderness, right now, but be assured that the Promised Land is coming.  I don't know how long this wilderness will last, but I do know that it will end.  As we walk in obedience to Him (v.6), he will lead us to our own Promised Land.

Truth be told, this is not my first wilderness experience.  It's probably not yours either.  It likely won't be our last, either.  Thankfully, God has given some great Promised Land eperiences in between.  And no matter how many wilderness experiences we might have, we know that as disciples of Jesus, our story ends with Promised Land.  So together, let us hear the call of Deut. 8:6 and walk in obedience and reverence to God, because you may be in the wilderness now, but the Promised Land is coming.

Tom