The setting–the wilderness.
6 “When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. 8 Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’” (Deuteronomy 1:6-8, NLT, emphasis added)
What was long enough? For the Israelites, it was forty years, Wilderness Time. What grew within them in The Wait? Who were they becoming in the The Wilderness? Oh, didn’t they even know He held them back for a time to prepare them?
Lord, when you tell me to wait, help me to wait with eyes wide open; help me to grow and be ready when you say go. And when you tell me to go, help me to walk confidently, trusting you. Sometimes (this stuff) is really scary. Help me to find my voice, to stand up for truth and what’s right. You are always with me.
1 This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth. 2 Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. 3 Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth. 4 I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth … 11 Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God. 12 Everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, as does the truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth. (3 John 1:1-4, 11-12, NLT, emphasis added)
Whether I’m in The Wilderness or The Wait, Lord, I want my focus locked on you. When you say go, I don’t want to step out in fear, complaint or distrust. I want to live in, walk in, and follow the truth.
Courtney (66books365)
Sixty-six books in a year 