Enter the Land

The water is flowing, it’s crystal clear, you bend down to touch the water, and it is cool to the touch. This is different than anything in the wilderness that you have been wandering in. You have become used to scorching heat, arid conditions, and, in fact, it has made you callous and hyper-aware of your surroundings. You are skeptical of everything, and yet here you are, finally having arrived at the Jordan River. The land that God has for you is here. All you have to do is walk across into the promised land, the land that He has prepared for you. You are afraid, God knows it, and so He takes the initiative to part the Jordan so that you can walk through on dry land. It is obvious now that this is the place where God wants you to be. You take a step down into the riverbed that is devoid of water and yet prepared by God for you, and you begin to walk towards the land prepared for you. Even though there are minor doubts in your mind, you walk forward in confidence until the loud noise. You look to the left and gaze across this land flowing with milk and honey, and you notice an enemy in the land. You smell smoke and look to your right and notice that there is a small fire to your right in the distance. There are inhabitants in the land, and they are looking at you as though you don’t belong there. Surely this land is for me, right? This is the land that I prayed for. The land that I know that God prepared for me is right under my feet for me to possess it. But why is there opposition here? Why is this not easy? Does this resonate with you? What is your land?

I believe that every person has transition periods in their lives where God brings them into a new land. That land could be college for the high school graduate, it could be marriage for the engaged, a new job opportunity in a different state, or life after the death of a loved one. I have found that there are times when we walk away from the land that has been prepared for us when we notice that there are inhabitants or the presence of danger in the land. For those who seek to be sensitive to what God has for them in their walk with Him, we all want to make the right decisions. We want to do what God would have us do. But do inhabitants and red flags in the land mean that the land is any less promised? I have come to learn that having enemies and red flags in the land does not nullify the land that God has prepared for you. Although it took me far too long to see this uncomfortable truth, it was very recent that I found solace in Deuteronomy 8.

In Deuteronomy 8, we have an account of Moses with the next generation of people after the wilderness wanderings. Before Joshua led them across the Jordan, Moses had already taught them how to live once they entered the land. They are prepared now to enter the land. God has both protected and allowed struggle as they wandered through the wilderness, all for the purposes of their growth. He kept them from dying in the wilderness while also allowing some discomfort for growth. God has most definitely prepared them for the land, and when looking at the history of God’s people, we know that there were people in the land who were opposed to them being there. It would seem as though if we did not know the complete story of the people of God, that this land was not actually for them. But in Deut. 8, we see God explaining clearly that the land was prepared for them and what they needed to do while in the land to continue to possess the land. So, why not clear out the land?

We are a people who love our God and yet hate the problems that He allows in a fallen world that we created. Take this thought as it is a beef jerky kind of thought. The more you chew on it, the more flavors you will find that are pleasing to you. If what we believe about God is true, He’s all the omnis (omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent & omnibenevolent), would He prepare a place for you to perish? What I see in this text and throughout the history of God’s people is that He has a plan for His people to thrive, grow, and sustain a relationship with Him.

My friend, trust me when I tell you that I am not writing about what I heard but what I know. I have walked into the land prepared for me and then crossed back across the Jordan. I saw giants in the land, my feet were weary from my journey, and my heart was stuck on the land I came from. I said within myself, “God would not make the land prepared for me to be a place with such dangers present and unease within my head/heart.” But then I remembered there were problematic inhabitants in the land that was promised to God’s people. There was milk and honey but there were also some bee stings and cow patties! Brother James tells us “Count it all joy…” and then says that “…the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” And then James tells us that steadfastness transforms us into beings that are “…perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4).

When we enter a “land” that has been prepared for us, we want steadfastness, although the reality is that our sin and the fallen world have made it unstable. I want you to pay attention to this in this text as well. When we are in the land, we must “keep the commandments”. I love the wording in English, but when you look at the Hebrew word there, it’s multifaceted in meaning. The Hebrew word there is Shamar (keep/guard). After you have wandered through the wilderness, it would be a shame to forget whose image you are made in and move away from your God. Guard that which you have learned in the wilderness. If you are a high school graduate and have been raised to be respectful and see every person as a creation of God, protect it! If you learned in your single era, you need time for reading scripture and meditation in the morning to make it through the day, guard that in your marriage! If you learned the value of a dollar when your ends did not meet, guard the gift of contentment and stewardship! There’s no need to be a well employed broke person! God gave us commands, statutes, and rules. Do what He has commanded us to do, if you want to simplify that all, Jesus sums it up as Love God and Love Neighbor. If you are doing that, you’re doing right. But YHWH God also gives us prescriptions. If you take this medicine, this is the outcome. And if we are being real, medicine does not always taste good! Shots are painful, cough syrup is disgusting (even in Sprite IYKYK), and chemo will destroy you while at the same time saving you. To live according to God’s judicial system (Mishpat, look it up, it’s worth it) it will at times be painful for us, destroy who we used to be, and leave a bitter taste in our mouths. But His way will save us.

We learn in the wilderness that the righteous don’t live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the lips/mouth of God. True life doesn’t come from food, jobs, or even familial love, true life/living comes from living in conjunction with that which comes from God. So enter the land. Not because it is easy. Not because it is empty. Enter because God is there, His word is enough, and His way will keep you. Read His word! Live it out! Be the light! Be a light emitting disciple! Be LED!